Until I was a teenager, I grew up in a hotel. It was not as glamorous as you might suspect. I made my own entertainment which eventually caught up with me. As early as I can remember, I enjoyed watching Sherlock Holmes movies and anything with a mysterious theme. They weren't on TV. I paid 10 cents to go to the local movie theatre. As if that wasn't enough, I read Nancy Drew books from cover to cover.
I would imagine myself in the settings, sleuthing around, trying to solve the mystery. I had a car, which in my imagination was a Woody (still love those old Woodies!). My imagination also took me to other states, all of which I read about in history books. As my mystery thrills continued, I made my own adventures. I would leave hand written notes on pillows in the guest rooms, stating that I knew what they had done and would catch them. Eventually one of the maids took my notes to my mother who put a firm halt to my escapades.
When I was in my early teens the lure of mystery turned to my own family. Who could I discover who had never been found? I soon was studying American History, adding my own family and wondering about what they looked like, where they lived when historical events were unfolding.
While in high school my mother, proud that I was no longer leaving messages for people, decided to put me in touch with a mentor. She was a very kind lady who was also a great genealogist. With each new problem, she presented a lesson in records and how to search them, as well as evaluate them. I did the research and she did the guiding. My love for solving mysteries grew and grew, only now it was focused on my ancestors and relatives.
I've traded Nancy Drew books for a library of genealogy books and periodicals. The Woody never was, but now I have Lil Red to get me around (and You Go Genealogy Girl #2) to all those wonderful places that I sleuth. The only messages I leave are my own to-do reminders.
Overall it's a great life and I'm glad that I experienced the old movies, books and even leaving messages for people. Thanks to Mom I had a great instructor who got me even more interested in genealogy. Maybe all along I was just destined to be a genealogist.
Ruby -- You Go Genealogy Girl #1
I love y'all's blog here! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteAlso, a big thanks to your mom for planting your feet on the path to genealogy. :)
I still have a set of Nancy Drew AND Hardy Boys mysteries. Bet you didn't know that! We could even squeeze a few in the little red car on the next jaunt. Instead of talking half the night like teenagers we could revert back to reading Nancy Drew again. I think we may be regressing, what a scary thought."Till the next genealogy trip"...Your sister-in-law, Go Girl#2, Sweetwater Sherry, GenGirl 2. So many aliases--I should star in a Nancy Drew mystery. Why is it again--that I am always #2 ????
ReplyDeleteYou are #2 because I'm Nancy Drew, the big mystery solver. You are my tag-along, go-fer! Get it?
ReplyDeleteYou two are very funny, more sister than sister in law!
ReplyDeleteIt took me a lot longer to figure out that I wanted to do genealogy than it did you, but the lure was much the same: we get to play detective!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to have found your blog. I'm a mystery-lover too, maybe that's a genetic trait of genealogists!
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