This past weekend I had the opportunity to meet a gentleman who was just beginning his family history journey. It was the story he told that inspired him and his enthusiasm that was the most striking.
This gentleman said that he was recently in a church setting and was sitting quietly and just pondering when a stranger approached him to ask for help on a family history issue he was dealing with. The gentleman happily said he'd help and it was in helping this total stranger with his family history that he came to realization that these names are real people, and they are our family just as real as our living family members today.
That experience made him want to begin working on his own family history.
When I met this gentleman and his wife I was assisting them in getting organized on working on their family history. As he and his wife looked at the names in his tree he would tearily point at a name and say, "that's my grandmother" and "that's my auntie."
This story was also wonderful to me because seeing a stranger be excited about family history can inspire others. My story of starting on my family history came from finding a name on my own tree and realizing that it was exciting and very possible to do this work. I loved hearing someone else's story of how they got started.
What's your story? What first got you excited about starting the work on your family history?
I'd love to hear all about it!
Happy Hunting!
