Tomorrow is thanksgiving and I find myself looking back at the Thanksgivings of my past. Born in Washington State and surrounded by most of my extended family, we always got together with the full family at Thanksgiving and Christmas. But with the deaths of all of my grandparents and the growing up of my cousins we have all moved on from those close childhood experiences. Arizona, Australia, Maryland, Utah, California, Colorado and Washington – we are spread too far apart to get together on this holiday.
Genealogy brings you closer to your family, but holidays also remind us of how many family members you no longer see.
On the other hand, many of us will see our loved ones on this holiday. I have my parents, my brother, our wives, their families and our children, to spend the day with. I will hold them close, remember those who cannot be there and we will share our memories. I hope you share yours too.
The holidays are the time of year we have those people together that we may want to interview. We usually realize too late where the memory-holes in our relatives lives are. It is a tragedy when only after his death do you realize there is a 12 year gap in grandpa’s life – a gap that we really know nothing about. Where was he? Was he really a logger for that long? That would make it his longest held job!
In this vane, let me direct you to my friend, Marlo Schuldt’s, blog. In his article titled “Sharing, Recording, and Preserving Family Stories”. He discusses a number of ways to save these memories. I like his suggestions and plan on using them.
Written by Dale R. Meitzler
