Friday, July 1, 2011

COG 107 - The Seasons Of Genealogy: Not What I Thought I Would Be

Created by FootnoteMaven

As I read the topic for the 107th Carnival of Genealogy, I immediately began to contemplate what season I was most active in doing my genealogy.
This was not hard.  I do genealogy pretty much 24/7 and all year round.  I have a quote on my emails "Genealogy is not just a pastime; it's a passion."-Mary Harrell-Sesniak-.  My children would say, "yep, pretty much". 
 
In the spring time of my life, I would steal any time I could to go to the library.  I have to say that the Hero was helpful as much as he could be. I loved the books and films.   There is just something invigorating about seeing shelves of books and possibilities.
 
As I moved into the summer of my life, research became more difficult.  I worked, the Hero became ill, and children decided to get married. (really!; rolling eyes)  I still was able to surf the internet, index, and compile my family tree in my spare hours. I thought, not so bad, when I reach the fall of my life I will go to the library all day long, travel to family sites, research to my hearts content.
Now that I am in the fall of my life, I am discovering that it is not as I had thought.  I have children who seem to need me more as adults than when they were teenagers.  There are the grandchildren that need family stories told to.  Finances are definitely not wonderful, so trips have been for family not research. Am I stopped from working? Not at all.  When I arrive at a child's house, they realize that wifi internet is an essential part of my visit, and mom will be up a bit late working because the day was spent making memories.  I still steal moments at the library, and play on the internet. Genealogy life is pretty good.
I wonder now what the winter of my life will be. Crossing my fingers and toes that the search will go on, and I will be able to break down the brick walls and find the wives parents that have eluded me.
I love genealogy and accept that it is not a pure science nor is it easily pursued.  It does give one a thrill in the pursuit of finding a factual source of ancestors.
It is definitely a passion for me that does not have "seasonal bounds".

4 comments:

  1. I love that you spend family time, and then manage to stay up and work on your passion.

    Sometimes there are not enough hours in the days....

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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  2. I loved the part about wifi being essential because you spent the days making memories. Beautiful image!

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  3. Thank you both for the comments. Appreciate them.

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  4. I really related to your comment about your adult children needing you more than when they were teenagers - I thought life was supposed to get less busy as we got older? I guess not! :) But getting a few stolen moments in the wee hours at the computer, writing blog posts, entering data, and going through documents is maybe just a little sweeter because we *don't* have unlimited time to do it. Great post - enjoyed it much.

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