Genealogy Chat

Oh dear, uncle Jonesey, you have been looking through my papers!!!
Once more you have inspired me to get cracking on that sorting and ordering of all the 'bits' I have.
I have begun the story of the Phelps family - with a little bit of imagination added to make it readable - but the facts are all researched and accurate.
THanks again and again for the prods and advice.
love
Jill

It is a sad fact but 20 or so years after we shuffle of this mortal coil most of us will be but a distant and rapidly fading memory. All the hours and effort we are now expending researching our ancestors will die with us unless we preserve it in some way in a form that our descendants can recognise and understand. If all we leave behind is a thick file containing some certificates, scribbled notes and perhaps some printouts of census records then chances are that this will be discarded along with most of the other ephemera that we have managed to accumulate along life’s highway.

My tip today is to think of the future. Take some time to convert what you have learnt about your own family history into something that your children and perhaps their children can understand and appreciate. Turn those facts into a story or document chronicling their ancestors including yourself. Add flesh to the bones so to speak. What you create need not be a contender for a literary prize just something that is readable and interesting. In other words something that they will want to keep and treasure.

I guess that whilst we have been on this quest to discover our roots that at sometime we have all wished that we had asked our mother or father some question or other, I know I have. Now could be your chance to answer the questions your children may never get round to asking.

Start doing it today for as we all know, tomorrow never comes and even if it did, it may be too late anyway.