I am a Genealogist. Or am I? Genealogy is a line of descent tracing continuously from one ancestor to another. The study of ancestry descent being a single direct line backwards from yourself. Is this who I am?
I am a Geneticist. Or am I? It helps to explain why people look like they do i.e. ancestor photos and to possibly identify health conditions, i.e. death records, that our ancestors could have possibly passed onto us? Is this who I am?
I am a Family Historian. Or am I? Documenting family history. This is what gives us our identity and binds the family together. Is this who I am?
I venture to say that I am partially made up of all of the above titles.
Family consists of your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. These memories are just as precious and as important as the family heirlooms we covet.
When someone you love dies you still remember them; their appearance, how they dressed, talked and laughed, perhaps where they worked and their daily activities. When you find pictures of your ancestors and documents that help us learn the details and history of their lives, it is as if you knew them when they walked the earth.
If you stay strictly to blood lines and your tree carries only parents and grandparents throughout time, you are a genealogist.
But if you include all the children, all the spouses of multiple marriages, and include any and all information we know of and or discover, you have a family tree. Family can be complicated for it consists not only of blood relatives but also family that we are not related to but were raised with. We love them both.
There is no right or wrong way to build your family tree. It is personal, it is unique only unto you. Everyone's family story is interesting and special. Your ancestors most likely include many faiths. Perhaps you'll find a famous relative or a black sheep who will add some color to your tree. Do you see history repeating itself throughout the generations, i.e. occupations. Learn what country your family initially came from. What history did they live through. What challenges did they overcome. It all connects you to the past.
There are many components that make up who you are.
Climbing The Family Tree
