We are the chosen in each family.
There is one who seems called to
find the ancestors, to put flesh
on their bones and make them
seem alive again. To tell the family
story and to feel that somehow
they know and approve. Doing genealogy
is not a cold gathering of facts but instead
breathing life into all who have gone before.
We are the storytellers of the tribe.

Author unknown

I discovered Find a Grave while doing my own family history research. I was always very grateful to find a record for a relative long ago passed and a long distance from my location. One night I happened to remember a dear friend, who many decades ago tragically died in a car crash, during her sophomore year in high school. She was buried in a small private family cemetery on a farm in rural Kentucky. I thought no way is there a record for her, the location being so remote. To my surprise, a contributor had created a memorial for her, and another had plodded through overgrown fields, up and down hills following a primitive map, and photographed the small family graveyard. I wrote her and thanked her, and I became inspired to help others, as they have helped me. It is a great satisfaction for me when I can post a photo for someone who, due to time or distance, cannot obtain it themselves. It overwhelms me as I walk the graves, pondering all the personal histories of those who lived and died before me, knowing one day I will join those ranks. It brings an appreciation for the gift of life bestowed upon me, and I realize how short life really is. We should all make the most of every precious moment, as in the end, death, the stalker, will tap each and everyone of us. There are no survivors on this earth. Thanks to Find a Grave for this project that helps so many to find lost or distant loved ones. I hope to help others as others have helped me, and to be a contributor in furthering the mission of this great organization.

Rob Streander Jr.

Only in genealogy is a step backwards considered progress!

Any family researcher can tell you when and why his/her quest began. Where it ends, not so much. It never does.

Our ancestors are never gone, until we forget them.

Someone once said to me, "What is the point in discovering where you came from, isn't it where we go in the future that counts"? Perhaps. But how do you discover a time that has not happened yet? We can see our past, but not our future. I don't research my family to see where I came from. I research to discover who I came from, to discover my family roots, who they were, how they lived, and I marvel at the thought that if any one direct liner were a different person than who they were, I would be a different person than who I am.

We are the chosen in each family.
There is one who seems called to
find the ancestors, to put flesh
on their bones and make them
seem alive again. To tell the family
story and to feel that somehow
they know and approve. Doing genealogy
is not a cold gathering of facts but instead
breathing life into all who have gone before.
We are the storytellers of the tribe.

Author unknown

I discovered Find a Grave while doing my own family history research. I was always very grateful to find a record for a relative long ago passed and a long distance from my location. One night I happened to remember a dear friend, who many decades ago tragically died in a car crash, during her sophomore year in high school. She was buried in a small private family cemetery on a farm in rural Kentucky. I thought no way is there a record for her, the location being so remote. To my surprise, a contributor had created a memorial for her, and another had plodded through overgrown fields, up and down hills following a primitive map, and photographed the small family graveyard. I wrote her and thanked her, and I became inspired to help others, as they have helped me. It is a great satisfaction for me when I can post a photo for someone who, due to time or distance, cannot obtain it themselves. It overwhelms me as I walk the graves, pondering all the personal histories of those who lived and died before me, knowing one day I will join those ranks. It brings an appreciation for the gift of life bestowed upon me, and I realize how short life really is. We should all make the most of every precious moment, as in the end, death, the stalker, will tap each and everyone of us. There are no survivors on this earth. Thanks to Find a Grave for this project that helps so many to find lost or distant loved ones. I hope to help others as others have helped me, and to be a contributor in furthering the mission of this great organization.

Rob Streander Jr.

Only in genealogy is a step backwards considered progress!

Any family researcher can tell you when and why his/her quest began. Where it ends, not so much. It never does.

Our ancestors are never gone, until we forget them.

Someone once said to me, "What is the point in discovering where you came from, isn't it where we go in the future that counts"? Perhaps. But how do you discover a time that has not happened yet? We can see our past, but not our future. I don't research my family to see where I came from. I research to discover who I came from, to discover my family roots, who they were, how they lived, and I marvel at the thought that if any one direct liner were a different person than who they were, I would be a different person than who I am.