On being the family genealogist.

I don't know who this amazing lady is, but she is who I feel I would
have been in her time.  This Photo is from the Florida Archives,
she is unidentified. 

I am a family historian, a genealogist, a keeper of memories.  I honor the legacies and stories of my ancestors every day as I think about them, know their struggles, learn their heartaches.  I find peace in my daily life through knowledge that their lives made mine possible;  That my modern struggles pale in comparison to the struggles that they faced on a daily basis.

In a previous post I pondered the thought of HOW they could just keep going.  Moving from one place to another with nothing modern to help.  No cars, no planes, no moving trucks, not even a bank. They carried what they owned or paid someone else to.  Someone who was as likely to run off with their things as they were to make it to the destination.

My ancestors (and many other Scots-Irish and German people's) were the first into areas that other people hadn't gone.  They faced attacks from wild animals, native peoples, and sicknesses.  They didn't have a row to hoe till they got there so they really put their faith in God.  Really.  The thought of dying while probably just as grim as now, wasn't a high wall, it was just another bump in the road.  They did things daily that today we mark off with "don't try this at home" and even worse "you may be killed if you attempt this".

Our ancestors knew how to do things with nothing.  They did it.  They brought us here. It is the least I can do to make sure that their legacies are remembered.  Good, bad, or ugly, I carry with me the blood of generations of Americans who haven't been remembered well.  It's my goal, almost a deep calling, to uncover who they were, where they went, and what they did.  It is my duty to remember them for everyone else and share that knowledge wherever it is wanted.

It is awkward to explain to people this connection I have always had with my ancestors, maybe I am a little "off my rocker" or maybe it's a special strand of DNA that makes me different.  Whatever it is I am proud to have it and I intend to continue the quest until all avenues have been exhausted.

Thanks for reading. Leave comments!

I wrote this while listening to inspiring music by Clanadonia on Youtube - Scottish Music is kind of amazing at bringing out the writing magic.