I remember my mom sitting up for hours and hours in the corner of the living room working on genealogy for our family. I would go with her to the library where she'd go through books and micro film while I read a book on the floor. She started a family reunion for my Dad's side of the family, and helped continue on the existing reunion on her dad's side. I lost her in 2001, and I wish so much that I had spent more time doing those things with her.

Since then, the bug has bitten me. I love "finding" people, and connecting them. I took a short road trip one summer to visit some of my family memorials and fill in some photos that were missing from Find A Grave, and try to confirm/correct some of the research I had done from my laptop. I decided then to be more involved in Find A Grave's volunteer work in my local area. I've found that while I love doing it for my family, I also love finding and remembering people outside of my family. It makes my heart happy to find a parent, spouse, sibling, or child and connect them via a family tree or Find A Grave memorial for others to also find. I think that everyone should be connected to their family and be remembered. I don't want anyone to be lost.

When the weather is unpleasant outside I'll work more on my family research, and when it's nicer out I love walking the cemeteries around. Mostly I add GPS coordinates to the memorials that don't have them, in hopes of making it easier for someone else to visit their loved ones. If I notice a memorial isn't in the cemetery index online, I'll add it. If I notice several memorials together that look like they might be a family, I'll note the names and do research on them later, hoping to add connections to the memorials. I try to be sensitive to any information that's added, especially if it is more recent. I also try to verify information through records including census, marriage & birth registers, and newspaper information. My great great grandmother was a "local correspondent" for Whitehorse Township, OK (which doesn't exist any longer) and the articles she wrote are invaluable to learning about the families in their community.

I have several memorials which are not my family since I've created some as I've found them and others have been transferred to me from those who have so many in their care. If I happen to have care of a memorial of one of your loved ones, I'm happy to transfer them to you. Know that they were thought of with kindness while I had them.

"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 live 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 story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell Our Story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves."
-Della M. Cummings Wright

I remember my mom sitting up for hours and hours in the corner of the living room working on genealogy for our family. I would go with her to the library where she'd go through books and micro film while I read a book on the floor. She started a family reunion for my Dad's side of the family, and helped continue on the existing reunion on her dad's side. I lost her in 2001, and I wish so much that I had spent more time doing those things with her.

Since then, the bug has bitten me. I love "finding" people, and connecting them. I took a short road trip one summer to visit some of my family memorials and fill in some photos that were missing from Find A Grave, and try to confirm/correct some of the research I had done from my laptop. I decided then to be more involved in Find A Grave's volunteer work in my local area. I've found that while I love doing it for my family, I also love finding and remembering people outside of my family. It makes my heart happy to find a parent, spouse, sibling, or child and connect them via a family tree or Find A Grave memorial for others to also find. I think that everyone should be connected to their family and be remembered. I don't want anyone to be lost.

When the weather is unpleasant outside I'll work more on my family research, and when it's nicer out I love walking the cemeteries around. Mostly I add GPS coordinates to the memorials that don't have them, in hopes of making it easier for someone else to visit their loved ones. If I notice a memorial isn't in the cemetery index online, I'll add it. If I notice several memorials together that look like they might be a family, I'll note the names and do research on them later, hoping to add connections to the memorials. I try to be sensitive to any information that's added, especially if it is more recent. I also try to verify information through records including census, marriage & birth registers, and newspaper information. My great great grandmother was a "local correspondent" for Whitehorse Township, OK (which doesn't exist any longer) and the articles she wrote are invaluable to learning about the families in their community.

I have several memorials which are not my family since I've created some as I've found them and others have been transferred to me from those who have so many in their care. If I happen to have care of a memorial of one of your loved ones, I'm happy to transfer them to you. Know that they were thought of with kindness while I had them.

"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 live 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 story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell Our Story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves."
-Della M. Cummings Wright