…”The Holidays” are still with us–“The”Holidays” begin realistically before Halloween and end about 6th Night (Jan 6). A long time–about one third of the year’s total days. And this year of the Pandemic, perhaps even longer.
“The Holidays” have long been considered the optimum time to find out more about your family history. When extended family gets together to celebrate is an ideal time to learn what your family members know about their history. Memories can play off each other bringing a maximum of information (and even some misinformation) to the light of day.
Have you asked the questions about your genealogy that you want to know? That you need to know? Because of the shutdowns and lockdowns and restrictions to home during 2020, Americans are thinking about home.
Because of limited access to close relatives and loved ones, Americans are thinking more about family than ever before. Watch two hours of television in a sitting and you will see that even the commercial ads are oriented to family and home. So your genealogy inquiries will not be strange nor unexpected.
Review what you know about ancestors you are interested in. You might even make out new pedigree and family charts showing what you know. You will have specific facts to share with your family to prick their own memories of what they have and what they know and to bribe them to look for what else they may have tucked away in drawers and boxes in the attic (or, horrors! in the garage).
Select pictures from your family archives. Then run the pictures on FamilySearch.org and Google.com. Be prepared–you could end up with several feet of pictures should you choose to print them out. I ended up with 22 feet long by 3 feet wide just to lay them all out. And what wonderful finds–pictures and drawings and paintings and group photos from the past–all generated by this photographic evidence.
During a Pandemic when life is shorter than usual, don’t give up this opportunity to ask questions and to share back and forth. You may not get another chance to do it. Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com