i've been on this weird genealogy kick lately.
i've always been a little fascinated with history...and since genealogy is like history about myself, it's doubly awesome. :P
my dad and aunt have did a lot of family research. i remember as a kid going to libraries with my dad and finding ways to entertain myself while he looked through old library newspapers and documents on microfiche. at that point i didn't really see the appeal.
but along with the library of my dad's books that i recently inherited, there were also some family history books that i've been looking through when i can find a spare moment.
combine that with getting hooked on who do you think you are, and i think i'm officially becoming a genealogy nerd.
so far some branches of my family have been traced back to the 1600s...but not to countries of origin...though it looks like i'm a typical american mutt. lot's of german, irish, english, a bit of french, a bit of native american, etc... and who knows what else!
i've been trying to get shomik to look into his family background too...but he doesn't see the point. even though he's not as mutsy as me, you still never know what you'll find!
there aren't as good of records in india, but shomik's family all lived in the same house together in west bengal for about 200 years, so that's a start.
i think maybe the main reason genealogy fascinates me is because i'm intrigued by the spirit of adventure.
i admire people like my husband even today who leave their home land in search of better opportunity...that takes guts.
but i can't even imagine the courage it must have taken hundreds of years ago. before skype, photographs, and airplanes. when you didn't even know if you would reach your destination alive, or ever see your family again.
honestly, i don't know if i could have done it. i would have needed a very strong reason.
maybe they did have very strong reasons? i guess i just want to know what those reasons were.
i've always been a little fascinated with history...and since genealogy is like history about myself, it's doubly awesome. :P
my dad and aunt have did a lot of family research. i remember as a kid going to libraries with my dad and finding ways to entertain myself while he looked through old library newspapers and documents on microfiche. at that point i didn't really see the appeal.
but along with the library of my dad's books that i recently inherited, there were also some family history books that i've been looking through when i can find a spare moment.
combine that with getting hooked on who do you think you are, and i think i'm officially becoming a genealogy nerd.
so far some branches of my family have been traced back to the 1600s...but not to countries of origin...though it looks like i'm a typical american mutt. lot's of german, irish, english, a bit of french, a bit of native american, etc... and who knows what else!
i've been trying to get shomik to look into his family background too...but he doesn't see the point. even though he's not as mutsy as me, you still never know what you'll find!
there aren't as good of records in india, but shomik's family all lived in the same house together in west bengal for about 200 years, so that's a start.
i think maybe the main reason genealogy fascinates me is because i'm intrigued by the spirit of adventure.
i admire people like my husband even today who leave their home land in search of better opportunity...that takes guts.
but i can't even imagine the courage it must have taken hundreds of years ago. before skype, photographs, and airplanes. when you didn't even know if you would reach your destination alive, or ever see your family again.
honestly, i don't know if i could have done it. i would have needed a very strong reason.
maybe they did have very strong reasons? i guess i just want to know what those reasons were.
Wow! Looks like a ginormous task. I know I want to do this family tree or genealogy myself, but will make the plunge soon. Need vitamin M...Motivation to do so :-)
ReplyDelete