"My Cousin Did All That" or Get a Story Trees Ancestor Look-up

The bright winter festivals of Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah are coming right up.  Don't miss the opportunity to talk genealogy when your bunch gathers for the holiday. Take the time to ask questions and collect stories when you  sit with older relatives over a good meal. Or tell younger ones about  the ancestors while you have a captive audience.

To be sure some of your relations will yawn and head for the leftovers or the Wii, but others will love piecing together the family connections.  When I ask about genealogy, very often people tell me: "My cousin did all that."  That is great, but I rarely hear: "My cousin did all that and I have a copy of the family tree." 

The truth is that genealogy research is time consuming and often frustrating. Many people set out to "get it all down," but lose patience or don't organize the information in a way that is useful to anyone. But family history matters. Your descendants may really, really want to know who their grandma's daddy was. Whether you add to what your cousin did or start from scratch, don't let the knowledge of your ancestry get lost. 

I will be adding links to some great genealogy resources in the coming days.  Learn how to research and organize family history data. Find out the best way to interview older relatives. Consider having a Story Trees Ancestry Look-up done to jump start the process, or give Story Trees services as a gift to the historian in your family. Happy holidays.