Vacation Is Over--For Now!

What a busy last two weeks! I have been on the road again but this trip was not with the company of You Go Genealogy Girl #1 in the drivers seat. On July 25th I headed east towards the Family History Expo in Kansas City. First stop was an overnight at the home of Girl #1 in North Platte, Nebraska. We shared some notes, updated our I-Touch family apps and visited about the upcoming Expo. Tuesday morning I headed to Hastings, Nebraska to visit with my cousin, Joy, for a day. She and I do not get many chances to be together so it was a really fun visit for me. We went out to eat, toured Hastings and took some photos of the old historical buildings in downtown. She showed me the way to the highway that I would leave on the next day before we returned to her house. We played on her new piece of body inversion equipment and then had some wonderful berry pie. Hanging upside down definitely gives one a new look at the world. We thankfully saved the pie until after play time! The evening went by fast while we played on the computer, looking up some of her ancestors on various sites. She wants to start doing some genealogy and she enjoyed finding some of her unknown great grandparents--a good start for her future research. She has a large garden which can be seen from her kitchen table window and the morning I left there we had pie for breakfast(acting like we were kids again!) I loved watching the birds and seeing her beautiful garden flowers. Wish we lived closer as our short visit brought back many of the fun times we had growing up together.

Wednesday, July 28th I arrived in Topeka, Kansas at the home of our son and his family. There I got to spend time with the grandchildren and do a little research at the small library of the Topeka Genealogy Society. It was a really nice facility and jammed full of good books and held a large variety of genealogy periodicals. I was quite surprised at their holdings given a fairly small building that houses the collection. My son accompanied me there and we even found some good family info which I did not have! On Thursday, son Jason, and I packed up and left for Kansas City to attend the Family History Expo on the 30th and 31st.

Bright and early on Friday, we checked in and prepared for the full day at the Expo. Our first stop was setting up in the Blogger area. I was an "honor blogger" for the expo and we handed out bags of jelly beans and business cards for the You Go Genealogy Girls while we blogged and twittered during the day. It was a very busy day indeed. Meeting all the other wonderful bloggers, attending classes, buying books, and getting acquainted with many of the people from the world of genealogy. It was such a fun day and the lectures were packed with awesome research aids and helpful information. Saturday brought another busy day too. We both attended some different lectures and a couple classes together. We came home with pages of notes to be organized and put in our syllabus for future reference. Jason is a history major and really enjoyed the two days. He was surprised at what Mom really did with my researching as he thought it was just gathering names and vital records. Genealogy took on a whole new aspect with him and he picked up some very useful information for his field of study. With respect to the study of history, he was thrilled to have a different perspective on researching other than the common college classes offer. He is ready to attend another Family History Expo. We had a wonderful time together, the first real Mother and son outing for the past several years!

As the Expo ended we again packed and headed back to Topeka, Kansas. I spent a couple more days with family there. We did a bit of shopping but mostly stayed in where it was cool with temps of 106° and heat index of 115°. I had planned on some time at the public library but stayed home with the kids due to the devastating heat! Tuesday, Aug 3rd was the day that all the family packed up to head to my home in Alliance, Nebraska. Everyone was meeting again at my house to gather up some of their kids who had been visiting family in Wyoming and Alliance. My grand daughter, Katelynn who is 10 rode back home with me. We drove 7 hours back to North Platte, Ne., where we spent the night again with You Go Girl #1. She was anxious to see all my new books and get copies of my notes from all the Expo lectures. She and I spent a fun evening discussing genealogy while Katelynn played with her cousin, Tyrah who was staying over with her Grandma. The girls had great fun and it was nice because they do not get to see each other very often either. (The You Go girls really are "grannies"!)

Wednesday when Katelynn and I got home, the rest of the family was already there and packed-ready to leave for several days of camping. We got out of one vehicle, hugged the dogs, changed luggage, unloaded most of the books, and piled into another vehicle for the trip to the lake. Are you tired yet?--I was! Off to the lake we went, boat and camper in tow. Son, daughter-in-law, seven grandchildren, two Grandfathers, other in-laws and more kids! Needless to say, the few new books that I took along to read while I was relaxing never saw the light of day. Fun in the lake for the kids, cooking out, fishing for the guys and sitting around camp took up the last four days of my vacation. It was fun having family here as we do not get together very often. However--

This You Go Girl missed having a constant internet connection while traveling. At my son's house where there was a 3G connection, I had to share with others and sometimes could not get online and I had no internet while at the lake. I was having serious genealogy withdrawal, new books were waiting at home, and the heat was not helping my mood.

Today, life is getting back to normal, family all headed home to Topeka yesterday and we got the camper home and stowed until next time. All my great Expo notes need to be organized and pictures need to scanned for Girl #1 who is working on an exciting new project. Salt Lake FHL findings are ready to be entered in Legacy, books need to be read, and papers need to be sorted--again. Starting tomorrow I will share some pics and findings from the Kansas City Family History Expo. Thankfully, vacation is over--for now!

You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

Involving Family

Surely many of you have asked this same question. How do we involve family and get them to love our genealogy as we do? Nearly all of us who live in the world of genealogy either have family members who are already involved or we have tried desperately to get other family members interested. I believe this passion for genealogy and family history usually has to come along with age. We may start very early in life as prompted by something special like a school project that then blooms into a passion for life. You Go Girl #1 was one of those early bloomers (very early,- many eons ago!) Prompted and guided by that same person, our family has been involved with the love of genealogy for decades AND we have been lucky in the fact that most all our family down through time has been very interested in the history of our ancestors. My paternal Grandmother was born into a family of 15 children and nearly all the descendants of the 12 who survived have stayed relatively close through the years and several have taken an interest in genealogy research. We are truly blessed in that respect.

My interest in genealogy and family history has been present since I was young but I never really got started until after I married in 1971 and started to work a little bit on the extensive research that my Mother-in-law and her sister had done before me. Over the following years, Hubby and I took several short field trips to ancestral home sites, cemeteries, libraries etc. Mom continued to work and lay much of the basis for my husbands side of the family while I raised my kids and worked. She put together a family book for all of us kids some years ago which became our official "Bible" to continue to work from. With the onset of the computer age, our whole concept of genealogy/researching has now changed and I believe that has been the greatest catalyst for generations to follow in our footsteps. Our children and grandchildren are so attuned to vivid graphics that without technology, these generations may not have been as willing to follow through with family history research. Even us old grannies have found new sources to peak our interest. Sometimes we have been dragged along, kicking and screaming, complaining that we didn't know how to turn on anything electronic- but here we are! Mom is still going strong on a daily basis with her research and since I retired 4 years ago I have had my chance to really dig into our family history with enthusiasm. She and I live miles apart but manage to talk several times a week, email back and forth and collaborate on what we have found. I only regret that I could not have started sooner and had more time until the last few years to avidly pursue those ancestors. Now I am trying to make up for lost time! Day and night, the computer is purring, the brain is not resting, or the wheels are turning to get to another on-site research spot. After all, the genealogy research world still lives outside of the computer hard drive too. "We" are having fun now- the two You Go Genealogy Girls, Mom and even Hubby occasionally as he gets coerced into coming along.

What about all those other family members that we wish had our enthusiasm? A new friend and relative whom I have recently met has lamented about the family who doesn't seem to care and sometimes to the point of even being "snotty" about her research and time spent on all those dead people and doesn't want to share their family knowledge. Every genealogist has at least one of those to deal with. Like our ancestors, the living are not all perfect either. If you can't convince them, don't join them-leave them behind and move forward. Yes, it is sad when family does not share our love and enthusiasm but missing out on all those wonderful ancestors and family history stories is their loss. It hurts our feelings when family does not share our love and enthusiasm but over time, I believe many will come around. If they do not then we should record their family as best we can with the hope that a future generation will look back and think of us with love and gratitude for all our hard work on their behalf. With age and maturity, the realistic frailty of family often sets in and many times those family members, and yes, even our own children will eventually see the value of all that we do.

This is the little verse of the You Go Genealogy Girls that we use on our business cards, written because we eat jellybeans all the time while we travel and we think it pertains to many families:

THE JELLY BEAN FAMILY:
Jelly beans are like our family members. Some are sweet, some are more sour. Some of our "beans" may be white, some may be black, some may have freckles while others may not. Each precious one is an unexpected individual and we love each one....for who and what they are. When they are all together, they can become quite a mixed bag! Whether during sad times or happy times, all those gorgeous "beans" make these genealogist Grannies very happy indeed. They are the fuel of life!

We can all try to involve family in what we do. To nurture their interest is often a chore but we must try as many of our parents and grandparents did. Little did I realize way back then that all these little things would later contribute to my love of family history and genealogy. Grandma spent many hundreds of hours with me; going through old photos or sorting and talking about all the buttons in her old gallon jar and she knew every person's name that went to the old dress or shirt they had come from. Grandma saved them all. She told the stories that went along with each old handkerchief in her big old hat box; who gave her this one or that one and the special occasion that went with it. To a child, they were just fun times but those stories and memories contributed to my families legacy today. Looking back, I often wish I had listened more intently, made an effort to remember the little details in the stories, or even to have asked more questions but 50 plus years ago I too was more interested in the future, not the past. It is amazing that now years later, I realize that Grandma was a very wise lady indeed! I am sure that she knew that she was leaving a lasting impression, one to be carried on. Today- I live far from my own grandchildren but I have that old jar of buttons. Next time the granddaughters visit, I must get those buttons out so we can play. Maybe we can even tie up some bundles for each to save in one of their Great Grandma's old hankies. My old Barbie dolls from the 1950's are carefully stored away but I am sure that six girls would love to hear where they all came from, who gave their clothes to me, or how Barbie became such an icon in my time. That beautiful lace wedding dress that You Go Genealogy Girl #1 made for my Barbie doll in about 1959 or 60 when she was dating my brother-that is tucked away in the little trunk of dolls. Those things may not be ancestors but they are family history and may be the seeds for the future.

One of my twin seven year old granddaughters spent over 5 hours one day helping me to sort and scan old photos, I figured she would last half and hour. What a surprise! That is a memory to be treasured by me and hopefully in years down the road she will treasure the memory of those few hours too. She has mentioned it a few times since so I know she will carry it forward and maybe we can do it again on another visit. She may not remember the names on those photos right now but she will remember they were her family and the little details like the large hair bows and the man with funny ears. Will she be the one to follow in my genealogy footsteps?

You Go Girl #1 recently attended the Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado. We were to have gone together but my plans changed at the last minute so knowing there was another Expo coming up in Kansas City, I went online to check that out. It looked interesting and I began to think that maybe I could go to that one instead. They were offering several lectures on Swedish research, an area that I research often. I called my son who lives in Topeka, Kansas and asked if I were to come for a visit, would he be willing to drive me into Kansas City for the two day Expo in July since I do not know the city and traffic there at all and it is less than an hour drive from his home in Topeka. To my great surprise and pleasure, he said "can I go too?" Shocked, I think I must have paused because he then said "come on Mom, let's go, it will be a chance for us to spend some time together and it will be fun!" My daughter-in-law told him to go and have fun and she would stay home with the seven children still at home. I feel so privileged that he is taking me and we are both anticipating great fun at the Expo. It has been along time since we have had a Mother and son outing together. He is going back to college this fall, having taken time off with babies at home. His field of study is religious history and archaeology so I am sure that with the full field of lecture titles that are offered at the Midwest Family History Expo that he will have fun and surely learn something new. After all, genealogy IS history. How excited am I? Very... Maybe he will be the one to follow in my genealogy footsteps.

As the author Michael Crichton said-"If you don't know your family's history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree."

Family does move away these days but we can strive to involve them in our world of ancestors and hopefully the day will come when each one knows that he or she really is part of and has respect for his family's history.

You Go Genealogy Girl #2, Cheri

Cause of Death ... Squeezed by Genealogy Books

In May of 2008, Cheri and I visited her son and family in Topeka, Kansas.  You can read about this unique family on her blog, Those Old Memories.  What great fun when my nephew, Jason, suggested we visit the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.  

The library is located at 1515 SW 19th Ave. in Topeka; 785-580-4400.  They are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 9 p.m.  The library contains books and a lot more.  There you will find a museum/gallery with displays, a cafe, booktique, computer training center, homework center and even quiet reading rooms.  They have massive collections of books, multimedia, etc.  

On the second floor are enlightening exhibits about Topeka and the area and ... drum roll ... the Special Collections Topeka Room, Genealogy Center.  To learn more about genealogy from their location click on genealogy & local history at their web page.  

Cheri did not go too prepared and so was a bit confused where to start and what to do.  She seemed to focus on my well being.  The genealogy section is equipped with some electronic space savers storage solutions which are book shelving units that close shut and open by pushing a button.  She reminded me several times not to get caught between the bookcases should somebody pass by and push a button.  

I was not too concerned ... after all it might be the way a genealogist wants to depart this life. Squeezed by genealogy books!