Genealogy: The Joy of Looking Up Dead People

Genealogy can be very addictive to a lot of people.It usually starts out with a simple question.Like for me,for instance, it started with a memory of a picture and boredom. In 1986 I was going through medical issues that kept me from doing a lot around the house or even a job outside the home.My children were at the age where they had places to go,friends to bee with and so one….so I was bored.One day I just started thinking,for no apparent reason(as Forrest Gump would say,lol) about a picture that my grandmother had on the wall.The picture was of a woman that my grandmother said was a full blood Cherokee woman and she was one of her grandmothers.She gave no name.

My grandmother passed away when I was nine and at that time I did not understand how important it was to of asked her the woman’s name or other questions about her grandmother.And at the time that I was thinking about that I didn’t know there were a million(estimate,lol) other people were doing genealogy.I didn’t even know there was a word attached to researching the family tree….oh well,live and learn!

I contacted people in the family that might know who this woman was….but no one knew!One of the people that I contacted was my aunt and she asked me,”Why are you looking up dead people?”.I was not prepared for that question,so an answer just fell out of my mouth,”Because they don’t talk back”. Lol!

Through the years I have found out a lot of information about my ancestors,good and bad.I have found some that were in high job and social standings.I found some not so great people that were in trouble with the law,military and family.I have met a lot of people,family that for some reason or another I should of known when I was younger but didn’t,some distant relatives,my late husband,found people that I was related to and didn’t know that I was that I already knew,friends the do genealogy and some that don’t as well.

I have given people information,helped them find family members and also people that have given me information as well. Genealogy is about sharing.

There are some people that expand this into a career whiles other’s just keep it as a hobby as well as a social outlet.Now,genealogy is not everyone’s cup of tea.I know people that do not have the patience to do the research tasks and would call me and ask me who someone was.There are other people that I have met that have the patience but have a hard emotional time dealing with any negative people in their family tree.

In the long run I wish that the dead people could talk back!