Monday, November 30, 2009

Giving Thanks


Thanksgiving 2009 was one of my most enjoyable ever. It truly reminded me how much I have to be thankful for! It was the first time in five years that all of "my kids" -- a term I now use to encompass my children, daughter-in-law, and grandson -- were together for the holiday.


The highlight for me was Sunday brunch yesterday (pictured), when we all gathered for a final meal together before each group went their separate ways -- back to work, back to college, and back to school. Naturally, I took the opportunity to remind my daughter-in-law that I was waiting for her to supply some needed "seed material" so I could begin researching her side of the family. I want my grandson to know about his entire family; not just my side.


And in the process of issuing that reminder, I was reminded of something myself ... what genealogy is all about. Here I was in the middle of a family gathering, surrounded by the people I love most dearly, and I was carping about some factoids for my research! Genealogy is about family and people. Although we spend a lot of time cataloguing data about those people -- dates and places of birth, marriage, and death, occupations, and the like -- what we are really doing is trying to better understand and appreciate the people who were our ancestors and relatives.


In the end, aren't we doing this so we can better understand ourselves and our place in our families, so that we can make our relationships that much richer?