I started doing genealogy when I was five years old with my grandmother. That was a long time ago. Now, virtually every day is spent doing genealogy in some way; like many of you, I live and breath it. I wrote an essay when I was in high school on the subject of immortality. In it, I wrote the throwaway line: we are immortal when we become legends.

Now I realize how prophetic that line is. Our willingness to keep the stories and details of our ancestors' lives keeps us immortal: we can always be living in the hearts and minds of others.

I started doing genealogy when I was five years old with my grandmother. That was a long time ago. Now, virtually every day is spent doing genealogy in some way; like many of you, I live and breath it. I wrote an essay when I was in high school on the subject of immortality. In it, I wrote the throwaway line: we are immortal when we become legends.

Now I realize how prophetic that line is. Our willingness to keep the stories and details of our ancestors' lives keeps us immortal: we can always be living in the hearts and minds of others.