[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Friday Funnies...a bit early



<<To a lesser degree, because of population
 movement, many people in the US have lost contact with their roots and live
 far from relatives, and likewise are searching for a home.>>

I can understand that.  As my father's youngest, and his only child with my
mother, I've noticed that my half-siblings are fascinated by geneaology -
while I, who work at a state archives, have only a mild interest in the
subject.  I've concluded that one reason (the biggest, probably) is that I
grew up hearing endless, very personal ancestral tales as I followed Dad
around (he was a self-employed fisherman, so I did that a lot!).  I seem to
have a sense of being "grounded" in my community and family that his older
children, who didn't experience that kind of one-on-one time with him, lack.

Never realized it until I repeated a story or two, and my genealogist Big
Sis (his oldest) treated these tales as if they were gold nuggets.  To me
"great-gram's six husbands" and "great-grandpa's fall off the town wharf,"
and so on, are just...Dad's wonderfully told stories.  But had I not been
lucky enough, as I now realize I was, to hear them and remember them?  I am
sure I'd feel quite differently about genealogy!

Now that Dad's gone, I figure my job is to pass on his stories.  I let Big
Sis handle the research.  :-)

Nina M. Osier, Director
Division of Records Management Services
Maine State Archives

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>