I have been working on a handout for a new lecture that I will give for the first time at the end of March at the Fairfax Genealogical Society’s Spring Conference. The lecture is entitled “Online Sources for Western European Research.”
Obviously, this is a HUGE topic. I could easily fill an hour lecture with online sources for just one Western European country. But, I am going to attempt to cover all of them. Of course, I’m not really going to be able to talk about every Western European online source out there. So I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I am going to attempt to provide an overview. I am not including immigration records since I am giving another lecture which focuses on these.
This lecture is based on an article I wrote for Internet Genealogy Magazine a year or two ago. (Nearly all of my lectures are based on magazine articles I wrote.) I chose this topic because I felt like it was an area that has changed quite a bit in recent years, and I felt that many people are not aware of what is online that could make their lives easier. (And I’m all about making life easier.) I was excited about the article and I am also excited about putting the lecture together.
That said, I am having all kinds of problems. I’m having a hard time choosing which websites to include, deciding how to arrange the material, and figuring out how to make the presentation informative AND entertaining – so that people don’t feel like I am just jamming website after website down their throat (which I believe would make people inclined to fall asleep – a scenario that I try to avoid as a speaker, although I have had on more than one occasion someone snoring in the audience and once even on the front row. I like to tell myself that it was because they took some decongestant that says it is “non-drowsy” but actually is very much drowsy-inducing and not that I am so boring that sleeping while sitting up in a hard chair was more appealing than listening to me. But, I have digressed….)
I haven’t come up with the secret to making a list of websites exciting (except that the websites, of course, are EXTREMELY exciting just in their existence, although not everyone may share my enthusiasm). But, I did want to share just a small sampling of websites here. I’ll start with a couple of overview sites, then include a couple of country specific sites that have original records available.
WorldGenWeb
Similar to US GenWeb, but on a global scale, WorldGenWeb is a geographically organized volunteer-run website. Each Western European country, and sometimes even state or county, has its own site. The sites are all different in their thoroughness and content but may contain maps, descriptions of records, addresses of archives, query boards, social history descriptions, and a variety of other types of information.
ProGenealogist’s Specialty Websites for Genealogy Research
Progenealogists is a professional genealogical service, but it’s site is also packed full of useful information. On this section of their website, you’ll find a list of countries with links. Follow these to find great articles about history, research methodology, and records written by some of the most knowledgeable experts out there. You’ll also find, maps, gazetteers and sometimes extracted records.
Danish Demographic Database
Researchers with Danish ancestors won’t want to miss this site. Start with the “Emigrants” section to find information on nearly four hundred thousand people who left Denmark from 1869 to 1908. The search, which brings up transcribed entries, is free. Also, try the “Census” section to search an extensive collection of census records (organized by parish and then county). The “Other Sources” section contains some other odds and ends. You can pay to get actual copies of the records or have further research done.
Digital Archives of Norway
The Norwegian National Archives channels their material here as it becomes digitized. With free services, lists of databases, and millions of names, this site is the online place to look for Norwegian ancestors. (Do a google search for the title of the website if you don’t want to type in the long address.) Here you’ll find several censuses, and a growing collection of parish records that will eventually include 1.85 millions pages. You’ll also find other records, photos of farms, and links to tutorials in Norwegian research.
Genlias, www.genlias.nl/en/
Genlias represents the collaborative effort a number of archives in the Netherlands. Their ambitious aim is to enter all the data from the open civil registers (the most important Dutch genealogical source covering the post 1811 period). The project is well underway with 14.4 million records representing over 58 million people already available online. The search is free; copies of original records can be ordered for a fee.
Oh, I have to stop…But there are so many more….You see the problem?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
My Thank You Card
About a month ago, I wrote about doing my book talk for my daughter's fifth grade class. I shared a few of their very creative questions.
A while ago, my daughter brought home a thank you card that her class had put together for me. I wanted to also share a few of these. They're great!
First, my favorite one of all:
"I am glad I don't have to live with a cow in my house." (My PowerPoint presentation included a diagram of a typical landed household in Germany in the nineteenth century - which shows that the family and farm animals all slept under one roof.)
"I'm so glad that John didn't get thrown overboard for seasickness." (My great-grandfather, John Albrecht, who immigrated from Germany with his family when he was nineteen, wrote only one sentences about the immigration experience. He said "I know it might sound babyish for a boy of nineteen, but I was so seasick that I begged my parents to throw me overboard and my misery." This really alarmed some of the kids!)
"You're a good detective."
Isn't genealogy work really like being a detective? That's why it's so fun!
"I want to buy that book!"
This makes me smile because the book is not really a fifth-grade book. But hey - I'll take readers of any age!
Then there were a couple that to me really embody why I (and others like me) do this in the first place - why we enjoy so much speaking to others about our families and about how others can find their families.
"After your speech, I've wanted to carry on some Lithuanian traditions! This Christmas we are!"
"I know a few stories about my ancestors, but I want to learn lots more."
This made me feel like my presentation had been a success! I also thought one of my daughter's friends summed it nicely with this comment:
"I learned how hard but wonderful it is to write a book."
Don't you love kids?
A while ago, my daughter brought home a thank you card that her class had put together for me. I wanted to also share a few of these. They're great!
First, my favorite one of all:
"I am glad I don't have to live with a cow in my house." (My PowerPoint presentation included a diagram of a typical landed household in Germany in the nineteenth century - which shows that the family and farm animals all slept under one roof.)
"I'm so glad that John didn't get thrown overboard for seasickness." (My great-grandfather, John Albrecht, who immigrated from Germany with his family when he was nineteen, wrote only one sentences about the immigration experience. He said "I know it might sound babyish for a boy of nineteen, but I was so seasick that I begged my parents to throw me overboard and my misery." This really alarmed some of the kids!)
"You're a good detective."
Isn't genealogy work really like being a detective? That's why it's so fun!
"I want to buy that book!"
This makes me smile because the book is not really a fifth-grade book. But hey - I'll take readers of any age!
Then there were a couple that to me really embody why I (and others like me) do this in the first place - why we enjoy so much speaking to others about our families and about how others can find their families.
"After your speech, I've wanted to carry on some Lithuanian traditions! This Christmas we are!"
"I know a few stories about my ancestors, but I want to learn lots more."
This made me feel like my presentation had been a success! I also thought one of my daughter's friends summed it nicely with this comment:
"I learned how hard but wonderful it is to write a book."
Don't you love kids?
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A Tale of Toddlers and Grocery Stores
This has nothing to do with genealogy, but I think others might be able to relate my experience.
Tuesday, I took Christian (my fourteen-month-old) grocery shopping with me. Let me give you a quick background: We have a grocery story in our little town that I make quick trips to in order to buy specific things I’m missing. But, this store is a bit overpriced. Twenty-five minutes away is another store: a Super Wal-mart where everything is much cheaper. About every two weeks, I head out there to restalk on just about everything. And when you have four children, this means massive grocery shopping. Basically, I stalk my cart until nothing else can fit in it.
I dread, DREAD going to Wal-Mart. It is crowded, a bit disorganized, and overwhelming. But being the devoted mother than I am, I suck it up and make my trip anyway (only when we are out of EVERYTHING from butter to toilet paper and my husband absolutely CANNOT go). So, off Christian and I went to Wal-Mart on Tuesday with my carefully prepared, long, detailed grocery list.
About one-third of the way into my grocery trip, I realized we had developed a problem. The grocery stack in the back of the cart had now grown high enough that when Christian twisted himself around, he could reach the groceries. As soon as he could grab something – anything – he began his favorite grocery store game: throwing as many things as possible from the cart onto the floor. And every time a new item made a resounding thud on the ground, Christian would laugh gleefully.
This is my fourth child. I am not easily flustered. I tried distracting him. I tried scooting everything to back of the cart. I tried taking things out of his hands before he could throw them (which made him laugh even harder – convinced that this was a really fun tug-of-war game). But no matter what I did, as I tried to choose which spaghetti sauce to purchase, Christian chunked canned creamed corn over the side. Soon, I was not carefully selecting spaghetti sauce – I was grabbing sauce – with mushrooms, the gourmet expensive kind – whatever – as long as it was spaghetti sauce – and shoving it into the cart in an effort to speed up the process.
Before long, our problem developed a new dimension. Whenever I parked the cart near the shelves, Christian began gathering everything he could reach from the shelf and dumping it INTO the cart. As I mentioned before, Wal-Mart is crowded, so parking out of reach of the shelves was nearly impossible.
A few minutes later, Christian became fixated on my pen and grocery list. I was still not flustered, but I was distracted. So, I let him hold the grocery list. Can’t hurt, can it? We turned down another aisle and then one more. I needed my grocery list again. That’s when I noticed that Christian didn’t have it anymore. I went back to the previous two aisles, but it was nowhere to be seen. (I still can’t figure out what he could have done with it….) I was about half way through the grocery trip, and I had no idea what to buy.
We finished the trip quickly, with me doing the best I could to remember what I had meant to buy, and Christian throwing lunch meat, cheddar cheese and granola bars on the floor with amazing speed.
We got to the check-out line to discover there was a long, slow line (surprise, surprise). Christian had had enough of the cart by now and decided he wanted down. I know what happens when you put toddlers down in the grocery line. So, I tried distraction – peek-a-boo with tortillas, guess which hand the green beans are in – but none of it worked. I even tried a pacifier (usually reserved for nap time). He wanted OUT. He screamed loud enough that people around me in line turned to stare at me.
I pulled him out just as my cart reached the front of the line. I tried placing items on the conveyer belt while I held Christian in the other arm – as he kicked and screamed and did everything possible to propel himself down – out of my arms. I found it impossible to pick up food while trying to manage a 24 pound mass of flailing arms and legs.
Now I was flustered. Just a little.
I sat Christian down. He ran behind the cart and began pulling things off the shelf. I pretended I didn’t notice and piled my groceries onto the belt as fast as possible. When I stole a glance back at him, I found that he had stacked teddy graham containers six high, carefully balancing each one.
I paid for the food, crammed the teddy grahams on the shelf, forced Christian in the cart, and headed for my car.
When I got home, I realized I had forgotten to buy toilet paper.
Tuesday, I took Christian (my fourteen-month-old) grocery shopping with me. Let me give you a quick background: We have a grocery story in our little town that I make quick trips to in order to buy specific things I’m missing. But, this store is a bit overpriced. Twenty-five minutes away is another store: a Super Wal-mart where everything is much cheaper. About every two weeks, I head out there to restalk on just about everything. And when you have four children, this means massive grocery shopping. Basically, I stalk my cart until nothing else can fit in it.
I dread, DREAD going to Wal-Mart. It is crowded, a bit disorganized, and overwhelming. But being the devoted mother than I am, I suck it up and make my trip anyway (only when we are out of EVERYTHING from butter to toilet paper and my husband absolutely CANNOT go). So, off Christian and I went to Wal-Mart on Tuesday with my carefully prepared, long, detailed grocery list.
About one-third of the way into my grocery trip, I realized we had developed a problem. The grocery stack in the back of the cart had now grown high enough that when Christian twisted himself around, he could reach the groceries. As soon as he could grab something – anything – he began his favorite grocery store game: throwing as many things as possible from the cart onto the floor. And every time a new item made a resounding thud on the ground, Christian would laugh gleefully.
This is my fourth child. I am not easily flustered. I tried distracting him. I tried scooting everything to back of the cart. I tried taking things out of his hands before he could throw them (which made him laugh even harder – convinced that this was a really fun tug-of-war game). But no matter what I did, as I tried to choose which spaghetti sauce to purchase, Christian chunked canned creamed corn over the side. Soon, I was not carefully selecting spaghetti sauce – I was grabbing sauce – with mushrooms, the gourmet expensive kind – whatever – as long as it was spaghetti sauce – and shoving it into the cart in an effort to speed up the process.
Before long, our problem developed a new dimension. Whenever I parked the cart near the shelves, Christian began gathering everything he could reach from the shelf and dumping it INTO the cart. As I mentioned before, Wal-Mart is crowded, so parking out of reach of the shelves was nearly impossible.
A few minutes later, Christian became fixated on my pen and grocery list. I was still not flustered, but I was distracted. So, I let him hold the grocery list. Can’t hurt, can it? We turned down another aisle and then one more. I needed my grocery list again. That’s when I noticed that Christian didn’t have it anymore. I went back to the previous two aisles, but it was nowhere to be seen. (I still can’t figure out what he could have done with it….) I was about half way through the grocery trip, and I had no idea what to buy.
We finished the trip quickly, with me doing the best I could to remember what I had meant to buy, and Christian throwing lunch meat, cheddar cheese and granola bars on the floor with amazing speed.
We got to the check-out line to discover there was a long, slow line (surprise, surprise). Christian had had enough of the cart by now and decided he wanted down. I know what happens when you put toddlers down in the grocery line. So, I tried distraction – peek-a-boo with tortillas, guess which hand the green beans are in – but none of it worked. I even tried a pacifier (usually reserved for nap time). He wanted OUT. He screamed loud enough that people around me in line turned to stare at me.
I pulled him out just as my cart reached the front of the line. I tried placing items on the conveyer belt while I held Christian in the other arm – as he kicked and screamed and did everything possible to propel himself down – out of my arms. I found it impossible to pick up food while trying to manage a 24 pound mass of flailing arms and legs.
Now I was flustered. Just a little.
I sat Christian down. He ran behind the cart and began pulling things off the shelf. I pretended I didn’t notice and piled my groceries onto the belt as fast as possible. When I stole a glance back at him, I found that he had stacked teddy graham containers six high, carefully balancing each one.
I paid for the food, crammed the teddy grahams on the shelf, forced Christian in the cart, and headed for my car.
When I got home, I realized I had forgotten to buy toilet paper.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Uncovering the Stories of Immigrant Ancestors
The January issue of Internet Genealogy is now available. If you are unfamiliar with this magazine, it is a practical, how-to magazine that focuses on websites that are useful for genealogists. It is published by the same group that publishes Family Chronicle Magazine.
On page 22 of this new issue is an article I wrote called “Uncovering the Stories of Our Immigrant Ancestors.” I thought I would share some tips and resources from my article. I start out by explaining that in order to uncover your immigrant ancestors' stories, you have to first know that basic facts. Begin by finding those bare-bone documents that will provide you with the outline of their lives. For immigrant ancestors, this means parish records for their early life in Europe (or wherever they came from), immigration records that show their ocean voyage, and then records such as church, vital, and census that provide dates and places for the remainder of their lives in the US.
I don’t want to spend too much time on that aspect of research. Instead, I want to move on to the next step – on resources that can help you take your ancestors’ stories from a listing of facts to an actual story. The key is to fit them into their environment. Here are some suggestions that I included in my article:
1) Get oriented by reading a general history of the time and place your ancestors lived.
2) Next, learn about the social history of their time and place – what life was like for the “common” people. One book I like for Europeans in the 1800s is Life in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1789-1913, edited by David Kertzer and Marzio Barbagli.
3) Become familiar with what the immigration experience was like. One suggestion here is: Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life by Roger Daniels. A great website is by Harvard University: Aspiration, Acculturation, and Impact: Immigration to the United States, 1790-1930.
4) Narrow your search to local histories (this isn’t in my article, but it’s a good idea anyway!). Many towns and parishes kept their own histories. Contact a local historical or genealogical society – or the town or church itself. I’ll post more about this later.
5) Read firsthand accounts written by others. This gives you that personal insight into experiences your ancestors might have shared with others who kept written accounts. Pay attention to sources in social histories or look for sources covering specific events that your ancestors were part of.
For more suggestions on books that might help you, visit my website. Choose the “Ancestors in Specific Locations” from the bar on the left hand side. Each of these sections has a subsection with books and websites that cover sources relevant to that place. Sources in the Mecklenburg section, for example, will be useful to anyone with German roots, not just Mecklenburg roots.
To see more of what is available in the January issue of Internet Genealogy, visit their website here.
Also, some of you might be interested to know that Internet Genealogy currently have an “appeal for submissions.” To quote from the magazine, “We are in the early stages of planning a new book, a follow-up to our successful Brickwall Solutions series. Tentatively titled Internet Brickwall Solutions, we want to hear how you overcame your brickwalls using the World Wide Web! Please e-mail your submissions (Word document or RTF file) to brickwalls@internet-genealogy.com. Please limit your submission to no more than 500 words, and include images (200 dpi or higher) as a separate email jpeg attachment, with caption details.
So, here’s a chance to have your story in print!
On page 22 of this new issue is an article I wrote called “Uncovering the Stories of Our Immigrant Ancestors.” I thought I would share some tips and resources from my article. I start out by explaining that in order to uncover your immigrant ancestors' stories, you have to first know that basic facts. Begin by finding those bare-bone documents that will provide you with the outline of their lives. For immigrant ancestors, this means parish records for their early life in Europe (or wherever they came from), immigration records that show their ocean voyage, and then records such as church, vital, and census that provide dates and places for the remainder of their lives in the US.
I don’t want to spend too much time on that aspect of research. Instead, I want to move on to the next step – on resources that can help you take your ancestors’ stories from a listing of facts to an actual story. The key is to fit them into their environment. Here are some suggestions that I included in my article:
1) Get oriented by reading a general history of the time and place your ancestors lived.
2) Next, learn about the social history of their time and place – what life was like for the “common” people. One book I like for Europeans in the 1800s is Life in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1789-1913, edited by David Kertzer and Marzio Barbagli.
3) Become familiar with what the immigration experience was like. One suggestion here is: Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life by Roger Daniels. A great website is by Harvard University: Aspiration, Acculturation, and Impact: Immigration to the United States, 1790-1930.
4) Narrow your search to local histories (this isn’t in my article, but it’s a good idea anyway!). Many towns and parishes kept their own histories. Contact a local historical or genealogical society – or the town or church itself. I’ll post more about this later.
5) Read firsthand accounts written by others. This gives you that personal insight into experiences your ancestors might have shared with others who kept written accounts. Pay attention to sources in social histories or look for sources covering specific events that your ancestors were part of.
For more suggestions on books that might help you, visit my website. Choose the “Ancestors in Specific Locations” from the bar on the left hand side. Each of these sections has a subsection with books and websites that cover sources relevant to that place. Sources in the Mecklenburg section, for example, will be useful to anyone with German roots, not just Mecklenburg roots.
To see more of what is available in the January issue of Internet Genealogy, visit their website here.
Also, some of you might be interested to know that Internet Genealogy currently have an “appeal for submissions.” To quote from the magazine, “We are in the early stages of planning a new book, a follow-up to our successful Brickwall Solutions series. Tentatively titled Internet Brickwall Solutions, we want to hear how you overcame your brickwalls using the World Wide Web! Please e-mail your submissions (Word document or RTF file) to brickwalls@internet-genealogy.com. Please limit your submission to no more than 500 words, and include images (200 dpi or higher) as a separate email jpeg attachment, with caption details.
So, here’s a chance to have your story in print!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Favorite Narrative Family History Books
During the holidays and particularly on my long flight to and from Hawaii, I was able to do a little bit of reading. (Imagine that.) It was quite a production even for me to select which books I wanted to bring on the plane with me – I had such a long list of things I wanted to read. I ended up bringing a ridiculous amount of books (I think I had 5 books), of which I only read part of one. In ordering my books, I began reflecting on some of the best “family history” books I have read. I thought I would share some of these.
First, my criteria: I did not choose any “instructive” how-to books. These books had to be narratives. They had to be nonfiction and cover several generations of a family’s story. Some of them are old, and some are new - and on my desk right now. (Of course, my book would go at the top of this list, but these are ideas for after you’ve FINISHED reading my book!)
1. Family by Ian Frazier. This is one of the books that truly shaped my course in life. I read it as a college student and instantly knew that I wanted to write a book like that someday. This book describes Frazier’s “ordinary” family through several generations of American history. Frazier is the master of understatement. I have tried to model this in my own writing – describing actions that show emotions instead of always stating emotions directly. For example, he describes losing his brother when he was young. He tells about his parents getting back in the car after his brother’s death, describes their slow, methodical actions. Then states simply “It was the worst day of my life.” That’s all he needs to say. It’s so powerful! One of my favorite quotes, one that I use in my book lecture, comes from this book. Frazier says (I am paraphrasing): While we are required to love all of our descendents equally, the same doesn’t apply to our ancestors. We are allowed to have favorite ancestors because they aren’t around to know about it.
2. The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt. He uses the history of his family’s vacation home to describe his family and the changes that have come over them – and their environment - during the past one hundred years. (The house is on the Cape which endears it to me even more.)
3. Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New England’s Oldest Continuously Lived-In House. Here’s another New England house book. Messer parallels the life of the family that owned this house for generations with her own family who buys the house.
4. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang. This is possibly my favorite book of all time. Everyone, everyone, should read it. Chang traces her Chinese family through three generations, weaving in the incredible events of Chinese history that shaped them – and those around them.
5. The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family by Duong Van Mai Elliott. Fascinating! Elliott’s book starts in the past in rural Vietnman and finishes with Elliott’s life as her family escapes from Saigon and she eventually marries an American man.
6. Mosaic: A Chronicle of Five Generations by Diane Armstrong. This tells the story of a Jewish family beginning in 1890 and stretching to present day, including stories of her family during the Nazi regime.
7. In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family by John Sedgwick. This is the book I read on the plane to Hawaii. I’m about two-thirds finished with it. The thread that extends through time as he traces the generations of his family is mental illness. I’m enjoying the book.
8. Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson. I ordered this in from the library, but haven’t started it yet.
Of course, this is only a few of many possibilities. I would love to hear other people's favorite books in this category.
First, my criteria: I did not choose any “instructive” how-to books. These books had to be narratives. They had to be nonfiction and cover several generations of a family’s story. Some of them are old, and some are new - and on my desk right now. (Of course, my book would go at the top of this list, but these are ideas for after you’ve FINISHED reading my book!)
1. Family by Ian Frazier. This is one of the books that truly shaped my course in life. I read it as a college student and instantly knew that I wanted to write a book like that someday. This book describes Frazier’s “ordinary” family through several generations of American history. Frazier is the master of understatement. I have tried to model this in my own writing – describing actions that show emotions instead of always stating emotions directly. For example, he describes losing his brother when he was young. He tells about his parents getting back in the car after his brother’s death, describes their slow, methodical actions. Then states simply “It was the worst day of my life.” That’s all he needs to say. It’s so powerful! One of my favorite quotes, one that I use in my book lecture, comes from this book. Frazier says (I am paraphrasing): While we are required to love all of our descendents equally, the same doesn’t apply to our ancestors. We are allowed to have favorite ancestors because they aren’t around to know about it.
2. The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt. He uses the history of his family’s vacation home to describe his family and the changes that have come over them – and their environment - during the past one hundred years. (The house is on the Cape which endears it to me even more.)
3. Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New England’s Oldest Continuously Lived-In House. Here’s another New England house book. Messer parallels the life of the family that owned this house for generations with her own family who buys the house.
4. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang. This is possibly my favorite book of all time. Everyone, everyone, should read it. Chang traces her Chinese family through three generations, weaving in the incredible events of Chinese history that shaped them – and those around them.
5. The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family by Duong Van Mai Elliott. Fascinating! Elliott’s book starts in the past in rural Vietnman and finishes with Elliott’s life as her family escapes from Saigon and she eventually marries an American man.
6. Mosaic: A Chronicle of Five Generations by Diane Armstrong. This tells the story of a Jewish family beginning in 1890 and stretching to present day, including stories of her family during the Nazi regime.
7. In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family by John Sedgwick. This is the book I read on the plane to Hawaii. I’m about two-thirds finished with it. The thread that extends through time as he traces the generations of his family is mental illness. I’m enjoying the book.
8. Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson. I ordered this in from the library, but haven’t started it yet.
Of course, this is only a few of many possibilities. I would love to hear other people's favorite books in this category.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
My Family History Christmas Present
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a delightful day with our kids and my parents. Monday morning, we will travel to New York City for a couple of days to see more family.
I wanted to share a little with you about a gift I got this year from my mother. Under my tree were three binders:
1) The "Document Binder", as my mom called it, contained pages and pages of documentation of my life. This binder contained a vareity of papers such as my birth certificate, kindergarten report card, standardized test scores, a newspaper announcement from when I won a story writing contest in second grade and got to read it on the local radio, a school newspaper article announcing the winners of the kite-flying contest (I won 3rd place in the "most unique" category), swimming class certificates of completion, dance recital programs, my high school graduation program, etc.
2) A Photo Album of my childhood. The photos began with baby pictures and school pictures such as this one:
There were sections with my siblings and me, as well as some photos of me with my grandparents and great-grandparents. The one below shows my brother Mathew (age 1), my great-grandmother, and me (age 3).
A section at the back was entitled "Heritage." Here, my mother had placed photos of her parents, my dad's parents, both of my parents as children, and pictures from my parents' wedding.
3) The last binder was the thickest. It contains dozens and dozens of family letters my mother had written to her family when I was growing up. They're full of stories of me writing on my walls with crayons, blessing the butter, bread, and even my shoes in the dinner prayers, and sleeping with a dozen dolls in my bed. They stretch until when I was adult and include some letters that I wrote to my parents from college, and even my mother's reaction when she learned I was pregnant with my first child. One of my favorite letters is dated October 1979. It's a letter my mom wrote to me on my third birthday. I wanted to share a couple of sentences from it:
"When I think of you, I think of scraped knees and golden hair clear full of sand. You love hot dogs, going to the park, and having books read to you. You dislike sharing your toys with Mathew (my younger brother) and being quiet and sitting still in church. You can ride your trike all by yourself almost all of the way over to the university and back. You can count and read the alphabet. Because you act so smart and are so tall, everyone thinks you're older than you are. But when I tuck you in bed and you put your little arms around my neck and give me a hug, you seem so small and vulnerable. I wish that I could protect you from all of life's sorrows, but I can only hope that life will greet you with the same enthusiasm and love that you rush into it with it."
Needless to say, these binders were my favorite gift. Part of the reason, of course, is because the family historian in me was cheering at how these pictures and letters had been collected and preserved. But the bigger part was because of the memories and feelings these binders brought flooding back into my mind. It made me motivated to save some of these important things - documents, photos, and letters - for my children so that someday perhaps I can give them a gift as special as the one my mom gave me today.
I wanted to share a little with you about a gift I got this year from my mother. Under my tree were three binders:
1) The "Document Binder", as my mom called it, contained pages and pages of documentation of my life. This binder contained a vareity of papers such as my birth certificate, kindergarten report card, standardized test scores, a newspaper announcement from when I won a story writing contest in second grade and got to read it on the local radio, a school newspaper article announcing the winners of the kite-flying contest (I won 3rd place in the "most unique" category), swimming class certificates of completion, dance recital programs, my high school graduation program, etc.
2) A Photo Album of my childhood. The photos began with baby pictures and school pictures such as this one:
There were sections with my siblings and me, as well as some photos of me with my grandparents and great-grandparents. The one below shows my brother Mathew (age 1), my great-grandmother, and me (age 3).
A section at the back was entitled "Heritage." Here, my mother had placed photos of her parents, my dad's parents, both of my parents as children, and pictures from my parents' wedding.
3) The last binder was the thickest. It contains dozens and dozens of family letters my mother had written to her family when I was growing up. They're full of stories of me writing on my walls with crayons, blessing the butter, bread, and even my shoes in the dinner prayers, and sleeping with a dozen dolls in my bed. They stretch until when I was adult and include some letters that I wrote to my parents from college, and even my mother's reaction when she learned I was pregnant with my first child. One of my favorite letters is dated October 1979. It's a letter my mom wrote to me on my third birthday. I wanted to share a couple of sentences from it:
"When I think of you, I think of scraped knees and golden hair clear full of sand. You love hot dogs, going to the park, and having books read to you. You dislike sharing your toys with Mathew (my younger brother) and being quiet and sitting still in church. You can ride your trike all by yourself almost all of the way over to the university and back. You can count and read the alphabet. Because you act so smart and are so tall, everyone thinks you're older than you are. But when I tuck you in bed and you put your little arms around my neck and give me a hug, you seem so small and vulnerable. I wish that I could protect you from all of life's sorrows, but I can only hope that life will greet you with the same enthusiasm and love that you rush into it with it."
Needless to say, these binders were my favorite gift. Part of the reason, of course, is because the family historian in me was cheering at how these pictures and letters had been collected and preserved. But the bigger part was because of the memories and feelings these binders brought flooding back into my mind. It made me motivated to save some of these important things - documents, photos, and letters - for my children so that someday perhaps I can give them a gift as special as the one my mom gave me today.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Hawaii Part III (last one - I promise)
I promise to post something useful about genealogy research after this, but I just had to finish with some pictures from our last two days in Hawaii.
Sunday morning, we began adrive up north, stopping in the little town of Hanalei to attend church. The northern coast of Kauai is absolutely amazing. Kauai is known as the Garden Island, and it's easy to see why. We felt like we were driving through a jungle. Here's a picture of the scenery across the street from the church.
After church, we continued our drive to the end of the road - literally. The road on the northern coast of Kauai ends at the Na Pali mountains, which are too rugged for roads. The Na Pali coast is known for its breathtaking beauty, but the only way to see it is by helicopter, boat, or hiking. The first two options are out for me because of my suspectibility to motion sickness, so we had opted for hiking (my preference anyway). We started at Ke'e beach on the well-known Kalalau trail. We only planned to go the first two miles to the Hanakapaia Beach. Not to be cliche, but really I don't think there is any way to describe how absolutely beautiful the hike was. The photos don't do it justice. But here's a couple anyway!
When we got back, we were covered in mud and dripping wet (it drizzled for most of the hike). That night, we enjoyed an anniversary dinner - we've been married twelve years!
Monday was our last day in Kauai. We were worried that the weather would foil our plans (it rained basically the entire time we were in Kauai - I guess a place doesn't become the "Garden Island" without a lot of rain!), but it didn't. We drove to Waimea Canyon, known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific."
Before returning to the airport, we also made a quick stop at Spouting Horn, a lava tube where the ocean spurts up through.
I can't resist one more image of Kauai. Every place we went - the canyon, the beach, the jungle, our hotel, etc. - there were wild chickens and roosters (known as moa) everywhere.
I wanted to close my vacation posts with a little thought (yes - I'm waxing philosophical about vacations....). From the time I left Massachusetts, until the time I got to the Honolulu airport, I only checked my email - or got online at all - one time. I didn't lay awake at night and think about all the things I had to do. I didn't stress about how my book was or wasn't selling. And somehow, the world still didn't collapse. It has been an intense few months - but for a while, life wasn't intense. It was about beaches and flip flops and yummy food.
Obviously, life can't always be about beaches. And obviously I can't go to Hawaii every month - or even every year. But I can take a break from intensity, just by choosing to let go of the intensity - even for a little while.
I know - easier said than done. But I think it's worth a try every now and then.
Sunday morning, we began adrive up north, stopping in the little town of Hanalei to attend church. The northern coast of Kauai is absolutely amazing. Kauai is known as the Garden Island, and it's easy to see why. We felt like we were driving through a jungle. Here's a picture of the scenery across the street from the church.
After church, we continued our drive to the end of the road - literally. The road on the northern coast of Kauai ends at the Na Pali mountains, which are too rugged for roads. The Na Pali coast is known for its breathtaking beauty, but the only way to see it is by helicopter, boat, or hiking. The first two options are out for me because of my suspectibility to motion sickness, so we had opted for hiking (my preference anyway). We started at Ke'e beach on the well-known Kalalau trail. We only planned to go the first two miles to the Hanakapaia Beach. Not to be cliche, but really I don't think there is any way to describe how absolutely beautiful the hike was. The photos don't do it justice. But here's a couple anyway!
When we got back, we were covered in mud and dripping wet (it drizzled for most of the hike). That night, we enjoyed an anniversary dinner - we've been married twelve years!
Monday was our last day in Kauai. We were worried that the weather would foil our plans (it rained basically the entire time we were in Kauai - I guess a place doesn't become the "Garden Island" without a lot of rain!), but it didn't. We drove to Waimea Canyon, known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific."
Before returning to the airport, we also made a quick stop at Spouting Horn, a lava tube where the ocean spurts up through.
I can't resist one more image of Kauai. Every place we went - the canyon, the beach, the jungle, our hotel, etc. - there were wild chickens and roosters (known as moa) everywhere.
I wanted to close my vacation posts with a little thought (yes - I'm waxing philosophical about vacations....). From the time I left Massachusetts, until the time I got to the Honolulu airport, I only checked my email - or got online at all - one time. I didn't lay awake at night and think about all the things I had to do. I didn't stress about how my book was or wasn't selling. And somehow, the world still didn't collapse. It has been an intense few months - but for a while, life wasn't intense. It was about beaches and flip flops and yummy food.
Obviously, life can't always be about beaches. And obviously I can't go to Hawaii every month - or even every year. But I can take a break from intensity, just by choosing to let go of the intensity - even for a little while.
I know - easier said than done. But I think it's worth a try every now and then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)