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| Possibly one of my ancestors...unproven as of yet. This tombstone is at St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery in New Iberia, Louisiana |
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tombstone Tuesday:D. Romero
Monday, October 17, 2011
Motivation Monday: What motivates me to trace my heritage
What motivates me to trace my family's heritage? Probably the sense of identity it cultivates. With each new discovery as to who my ancestors were I feel a growing sense of who I am. That's important to me, being adopted and all.
I know some adoptees don't feel the gnawing need to discover where they come from. My sister Debby, who was also adopted, (her birth name was Stevens) never wanted to know anything about her birth mother. Not until she was dying that is...then for a little while she cared. Why then I'm not sure...maybe she thought that somehow a biological mother could give blood or a transplant or something and make it all better. That's what mother's are supposed to do, right?
But I had known almost all my life who my birth mother was and I spoke with her on the phone the first time when I was 21. So for me tracing my family tree was not a voyage of discovery to find out who my birth parents were. I know that. (Or thought I did)
No, I started with my adopted Dad's branch. I just wanted to find these people who had been his kin. It was a wonderful puzzle wrapped around history, two of my favorite things. I searched and searched for those dog gone people for ten years before I got a good solid lead. I swore (of course) that they must have been beamed down.
So in those early days of the beginning of my obsession my motivation was the shear joy of the hunt. The solving of the puzzle.
But now, I do this to connect with those who came before me. I still enjoy the hunt, but I feel more of a connection with the ancestors now. I try to learn about their lives, not just find out their name and fill in the blanks. In learning about them I learn about myself. I see my stubbornness in my grandmother Flavie. Her inability to hear the phrase, "No, you can't" has been passed on as well. I can't wait to find out where I get my twisted sense of humor from or my overdeveloped sense of responsibility.
That is what motivates me.
I know some adoptees don't feel the gnawing need to discover where they come from. My sister Debby, who was also adopted, (her birth name was Stevens) never wanted to know anything about her birth mother. Not until she was dying that is...then for a little while she cared. Why then I'm not sure...maybe she thought that somehow a biological mother could give blood or a transplant or something and make it all better. That's what mother's are supposed to do, right?
But I had known almost all my life who my birth mother was and I spoke with her on the phone the first time when I was 21. So for me tracing my family tree was not a voyage of discovery to find out who my birth parents were. I know that. (Or thought I did)
No, I started with my adopted Dad's branch. I just wanted to find these people who had been his kin. It was a wonderful puzzle wrapped around history, two of my favorite things. I searched and searched for those dog gone people for ten years before I got a good solid lead. I swore (of course) that they must have been beamed down.
So in those early days of the beginning of my obsession my motivation was the shear joy of the hunt. The solving of the puzzle.
But now, I do this to connect with those who came before me. I still enjoy the hunt, but I feel more of a connection with the ancestors now. I try to learn about their lives, not just find out their name and fill in the blanks. In learning about them I learn about myself. I see my stubbornness in my grandmother Flavie. Her inability to hear the phrase, "No, you can't" has been passed on as well. I can't wait to find out where I get my twisted sense of humor from or my overdeveloped sense of responsibility.
That is what motivates me.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Speaking at the Family History Center Nov 2
Well, I am becoming a "seasoned pro" quickly. I will be giving my fourth lecture on November 2nd. at the Family History Center in Sacramento. At 2:00 pm. I will be speaking on Railroad Records and how they can help in the tracing of your genealogy.
Last week I did two lectures in one (so two hours) on beginning genealogy (at the Yuba County Library) I combined a level one beginning genealogy class for those who have never done genealogy, and a little more advanced class with workshop. And just like any "seasoned Pro" I already have a war story. My PowerPoint Projector didn't work...I had to do both hours with no visual aids. I must have done alright, though, because they have already asked me back for next year and they want me to teach a whole day...3 or 4 classes. (can you see me doing my happy dance.)
I gave my first presentation at my local Family History Center on May 25. The subject was "Where else do I look." I came up with that subject because I kept having patrons come into the center and tell me that they couldn't find their grandmother's birth record/their grandfather's death record/naturalization record/military record... _____________ fill in the blank. I would ask them where they had looked and invariably they would tell me "all over the internet." I would ask them if they had written to the county their ancestor had lived in and they would give me that blank look...you know the one.
So I decided to give a class telling everyone where else they should look. Hence the name of the class.
That class got me a job that will be coming up this winter with one of our local genealogy societies.
The Yuba County Library job may have netted me a job in Placerville...maybe...keep your fingers crossed.
I am also scheduled to teach two classes at the all day seminar in Sacramento at the Family History Center on November 5. And in February I will be teaching a couple of classes in Redding.
So I am tooting my own horn and telling the world, I LOVE GIVING PRESENTATIONS. I even love the planning of them. So have computer will travel...if you know of anyone who might be looking for a lecturer...I'm their gal.
Last week I did two lectures in one (so two hours) on beginning genealogy (at the Yuba County Library) I combined a level one beginning genealogy class for those who have never done genealogy, and a little more advanced class with workshop. And just like any "seasoned Pro" I already have a war story. My PowerPoint Projector didn't work...I had to do both hours with no visual aids. I must have done alright, though, because they have already asked me back for next year and they want me to teach a whole day...3 or 4 classes. (can you see me doing my happy dance.)
I gave my first presentation at my local Family History Center on May 25. The subject was "Where else do I look." I came up with that subject because I kept having patrons come into the center and tell me that they couldn't find their grandmother's birth record/their grandfather's death record/naturalization record/military record... _____________ fill in the blank. I would ask them where they had looked and invariably they would tell me "all over the internet." I would ask them if they had written to the county their ancestor had lived in and they would give me that blank look...you know the one.
So I decided to give a class telling everyone where else they should look. Hence the name of the class.
That class got me a job that will be coming up this winter with one of our local genealogy societies.
The Yuba County Library job may have netted me a job in Placerville...maybe...keep your fingers crossed.
I am also scheduled to teach two classes at the all day seminar in Sacramento at the Family History Center on November 5. And in February I will be teaching a couple of classes in Redding.
So I am tooting my own horn and telling the world, I LOVE GIVING PRESENTATIONS. I even love the planning of them. So have computer will travel...if you know of anyone who might be looking for a lecturer...I'm their gal.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Shopping Saturday: Shopping with my sister Debby
My sister, Debby, was the perfect one. She was 5'4" blond hair, blue eyes, the face of an angel and she weighed about 102 pounds dripping wet. She got straight A's in school. She was an accomplished concert and jazz pianist. She could also play the saxophone and the accordion. She married a lawyer and had two children (a boy and a girl... in that order).
I tell you this not so you will feel sorry for me, but so you will understand that it was all a facade. She had the face of an angel and the morals of a safe cracker.
Debby was a wild child (as my uncle used to say.) She was the one who cut class all the time. She drank and partied. I won't go into details (it's not nice to talk ill of the dead) but let it suffice to say she got caught playing Frisbee on the roof of a hotel once. Oh, and one time she dived into a swimming pool with her band uniform on...just because someone bet her she wouldn't.
So now that you have a picture of Debby let me tell you that this "personality" did not just suddenly show up when she was a teenager. Oh, no, my friends. Debby was like this her whole life.
Today we go shopping with Debby.
One of my most vivid memories of Debby is how she always managed to get me in trouble for something she did. I would always, somehow get the blame. AND I WAS THE GOOD GIRL.
Once when we were about 10 and 8 (Debby is the younger) we were with our mother shopping for new school clothes. There was only one dressing room in the little local store mom liked to buy our clothes from. So Debby and I were sharing a dressing room. I would put on a new dress and go out to model for Mom while Debby changed into her new dress. Then I would go back into the dressing room to put on another dress for Mom to see while Debby modeled.
Back and forth we went, trying on dress after dress.
Ok, let me back up a minute....just before we went shopping our mother had taken us out to the hamburger joint to have lunch. I had just got my retainer. (you know...removable braces) Well, if you've never worn a retainer let me explain...you don't eat with them in...you remove them. So I took my retainer out, wrapped it in a napkin and put it in my pocket.
So there we are in the dress shop and we finish up our shopping and Debby and I get dressed in our "old" clothes. I reach in my pocket to put my retainer back in my mouth and it is in about 8 little pieces. I show it to my mother and she let me have it. How could I be so careless? What did I do? How did I break my retainer? On and on the inquisition went...all the way home...and for the rest of the day...
It was decided that maybe I would be more careful with my retainer if I had to pay for it out of my allowance.
Flash forward...about 6 years later...Mom, Debby and I are in the car and driving past the old clothing store that was no more...we are reminiscing about the times we shopped there. I remember (quite vividly) the incident with the retainer and my sister starts to giggle. She finally confesses that she had stepped on it in the dressing room and heard it crack. She thought I had candy in my pocket and I was hiding it from her so she stomped it all to hell. My mother, for some reason, found this hilariously funny....me not so much.
I tell you this not so you will feel sorry for me, but so you will understand that it was all a facade. She had the face of an angel and the morals of a safe cracker.
Debby was a wild child (as my uncle used to say.) She was the one who cut class all the time. She drank and partied. I won't go into details (it's not nice to talk ill of the dead) but let it suffice to say she got caught playing Frisbee on the roof of a hotel once. Oh, and one time she dived into a swimming pool with her band uniform on...just because someone bet her she wouldn't.
So now that you have a picture of Debby let me tell you that this "personality" did not just suddenly show up when she was a teenager. Oh, no, my friends. Debby was like this her whole life.
Today we go shopping with Debby.
One of my most vivid memories of Debby is how she always managed to get me in trouble for something she did. I would always, somehow get the blame. AND I WAS THE GOOD GIRL.
Once when we were about 10 and 8 (Debby is the younger) we were with our mother shopping for new school clothes. There was only one dressing room in the little local store mom liked to buy our clothes from. So Debby and I were sharing a dressing room. I would put on a new dress and go out to model for Mom while Debby changed into her new dress. Then I would go back into the dressing room to put on another dress for Mom to see while Debby modeled.
Back and forth we went, trying on dress after dress.
Ok, let me back up a minute....just before we went shopping our mother had taken us out to the hamburger joint to have lunch. I had just got my retainer. (you know...removable braces) Well, if you've never worn a retainer let me explain...you don't eat with them in...you remove them. So I took my retainer out, wrapped it in a napkin and put it in my pocket.
So there we are in the dress shop and we finish up our shopping and Debby and I get dressed in our "old" clothes. I reach in my pocket to put my retainer back in my mouth and it is in about 8 little pieces. I show it to my mother and she let me have it. How could I be so careless? What did I do? How did I break my retainer? On and on the inquisition went...all the way home...and for the rest of the day...
It was decided that maybe I would be more careful with my retainer if I had to pay for it out of my allowance.
Flash forward...about 6 years later...Mom, Debby and I are in the car and driving past the old clothing store that was no more...we are reminiscing about the times we shopped there. I remember (quite vividly) the incident with the retainer and my sister starts to giggle. She finally confesses that she had stepped on it in the dressing room and heard it crack. She thought I had candy in my pocket and I was hiding it from her so she stomped it all to hell. My mother, for some reason, found this hilariously funny....me not so much.
Friday, October 14, 2011
What to do with "priceless" family heirlooms
My parents have passed away. My father "went to his reward" in 2007 and my mother died two years later. My sister proceeded them in death by many years. So that leaves just me.
Just me to sort through all their stuff. I want to say crap...because that's what a lot of it was...crap. No one would consider the old avocado green phone an heirloom. Nor would the plastic caricature figurine of General Patton cause anyone to call Sotheby's.
I have no problem knowing what to do with that sort of stuff. Some of it gets tossed in the trash, of course, and some of it goes to the donation pile. But what do you do with the stuff that makes the memories start flooding back? Or the stuff that you know was precious?
What do I do with my mother's wedding gown? I can't exactly put it in a scrapbook. And I've already got two of my own wedding gowns hanging in the closet. There is no grand daughter to hand it off to (I had a boy). And Mom had an 18 inch waist, the chances of anyone ever fitting into it are slim (no pun intended.)
What do I do with the 30" oil paintings my mother had made. They show my father in his Air Force uniform just after he retired and my mother is in her finest white sequined cocktail dress. They are enormous and I don't have a wall to hang them on. (Even if I wanted them staring down on me.) Besides...oil paintings ...not really my style. I love the fact that they are portraits of my parents when they were younger then I am now...but I don't really want them. Do you suppose that this is why some of those antique photos end up in the antique stores, unloved and unwanted? And yet still...I can't bear to part with them...and if I could what would I do with them? Who would take them...they can't go to strangers...but there is no family left. I go round and round like this. Then I think that someday my son might want them. Yeah, maybe. Till then what do I do with them...it's not like I can store them in the garage...they're oils.
And then there is my son's stuff. I'm not talking about the 69 Camero piece of junk littering my driveway. I'm talking about his first stuffed toy, his cute little drawings he made me when he was 5 or 6 years old, his cub scout uniform, his first karate uniform, his first dance recital costume...what do I do with this stuff?
Not to mention that my mother had my baptism dress and my son's baptism suit mounted and framed in HUGE shadow boxes. (We're talking 40 x 40) No wall ...remember. And again...not my style. But again, I can't scrapbook them.
I'm beginning to understand why priceless family heirlooms are always found stashed away in a trunk in the attic. I think that would be the answer...if I had an attic.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Blogger Showcase:Elyse Doerflinger
Elyse is preparing to become a school teacher and she has the kind of personality that will make her a great one. (I see her teaching either kindergarten or fourth grade....she's really good with 5 year olds...or those who have a 5 year old's maturity level...but I could also see her making those sugar cube missions and getting the kids hooked on history.)
Elyse has some wonderful Youtube videos for beginning genealogists...or those of us who need a brush up. Just go to YouTube.com and search using her name "Elyse Doerflinger" and they will pop up.
In addition she writes a blog (Her first posts to her blog have been archived and can be found here.) Elyse also works for WikiTree she is the "WikiTree Evangelist," spreading her love and knowledge of WikiTree to everyone who will listen.
If you are unfamiliar with WikiTree let me tell you a little about it. WikiTree is "a family tree building website that balances collaboration with unique privacy controls." Go check them out and see what the fuss is all about.
If you know a young person who might really like this genealogy thing...hook them up with Elyse. Show them her YouTube videos and her blog. Then bring them to the Southern California Genealogical Jamboree next June...Elyse will be there and she loves showing young folks the ropes.
Webinars presented by Legacy
I love attending Webinars. I can learn all about various resources in the genealogy world without leaving my home and nobody looks at me funny because I am wearing my bunny slippers.
I have found Legacy Webinars to be one of the best.
First off they're FREE
I like FREE
Secondly they have fabulous speakers.
Thirdly they have a wide variety of subjects, just take a look at this list of Webinars they are offering between now and the end of the year. (Go to the Legacy website for more information and to register.) You don't have to be a Legacy Family Tree software user (but why aren't you?)
Take one or two (or as many as your schedule allows) They're FREE...what do you have to lose?
(If by chance you just can't make them fit your schedule...they record the Webinars and for a very low price (usually around $10) they will sell you a CD of the one you missed and provide the handouts.)
(If by chance you just can't make them fit your schedule...they record the Webinars and for a very low price (usually around $10) they will sell you a CD of the one you missed and provide the handouts.)
October
The Three Cs of Irish Research: Civil Registration, Church Records, and Census, presented by Judy Wight on Wednesday, October 19.
Let Your Voice Be Heard in the Digital Conversation, presented by Drusilla Pair on Wednesday, October 26.
November
Cracking the Case of Nathan Brown's Parents, presented by Marian Pierre-Louis on Wednesday, November 2.
FamilyRoots Organizer System presented by Mary Hill on Friday, November 4.
It Is Well With My Soul: Finding Ancestors Amid the Rubble of Disaster and Misfortune presented by Thomas MacEntee on Wednesday, November 9.
Creating a Shareable CD with Legacy and Passage Express Software presented by Jefferson Shupe on Wednesday, November 16.
Celebrate the Holidays and Share Family History with Heritage Collector Software, presented by Kathleen Bitter on Friday, November 18.
A Closer Look at Google+, presented by Dan Lynch on Wednesday, November 30.
December
Tracing Immigrant Ancestors presented by Lisa Alzo on Wednesday, December 7.
"Is My Pet Frog Part of My Family?" Children and Genealogy in the Classroom presented by Maureen Taylor on Wednesday, December 14.
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