If you are going to spend 60 years of your life actively involved in genealogical research, then you better have a good sense of humor. Indeed, anyone with 60 years experience ought to have plenty of their own funny tales from their personal experience. So it is with, George I Sackheim who has compiled his 60 years of one-liners and stories into a fun-filled book called Grin-ealogy.
This book is small, but a delightful read with more than 100 entries to make you shake your head, smile in memory of your own similar experiences, and laugh aloud.
For example,the telephone call Sackheim once received from a family member: she said, “take my uncle’s name off the family tree.” When Sackheim asked why, she replied, “because he died!”
Or the incident that occurred when he wanted to get the hospital records of a child that was stillborn. The worker at the hospital stated , “I can only release that information to the next of kin. Are you the son of that baby who died at birth?” When Sackheim said, “yes,” he was given the information he needed.
Some of items were probably Sackheim’s own creation, showing his own sense of humor. Take, for example, the entry which reads, “my family came to the united states a month after the other pilgrims. They arrived on the juneflower.”
Interspersed with the humorous stories are serious ones, such as the story of the martyrdom of his 15-greats grandfather, rabbi Israel of Ruzhany from whom all Sackheims (and variants) descend.
Even though we probably all have our own list of humorous anecdote and experiences, reading another person’s stories can really make your day.
Contents
The Nine Commandments of Genealogy
I Innocent Questions and Comments
II What’s in a Name?
III Sins of Omission
IV A Little White Lie
V “True” Facts
VI Family Stories
VII Coincidences
VIII Miscellaneous
IX How it all Began
Enjoy a brief diversion from your research, have a read through Grin-ealogy. Available from Family Roots Publishing, for yourself or give as a gift for your favorite genealogist.