Searching for relatives about five years has delivered so much of human value: lessons in American history, in life and death, in family connections and disconnects. We're lucky to have the diligent fingers of the digitizers of this information, and it takes researchers to realize the meaning of what we find. My frustrations are the dead ends and unanswered questions, the wasted time and the long stretches with not much progress. Yet doing this work has added dimension to my life. I hope it does so for my sons, eventually.

Hopes, wishes, and dreams are involved in every person's view of life. Our ambitions and our ideal selves. What a lovely and involving comprehensive view we have when we give ourselves time to search!

Searching for relatives about five years has delivered so much of human value: lessons in American history, in life and death, in family connections and disconnects. We're lucky to have the diligent fingers of the digitizers of this information, and it takes researchers to realize the meaning of what we find. My frustrations are the dead ends and unanswered questions, the wasted time and the long stretches with not much progress. Yet doing this work has added dimension to my life. I hope it does so for my sons, eventually.

Hopes, wishes, and dreams are involved in every person's view of life. Our ambitions and our ideal selves. What a lovely and involving comprehensive view we have when we give ourselves time to search!