I cannot remember any big mistakes I have made in my genealogy research, but I know my biggest mistake was not beginning to research my family when I was younger and my older relatives were still alive.
One case in point. My grandmother, Anna Sullivan Hork, took me to Pomona in 1969 to visit her sister and attend the wedding of a niece. I was fifteen.
I may have known about genealogy. I think we did a family tree project in the seventh grade. But it never occurred to me to ask questions and record the information while I was there. What I remember about the trip was that Aunt Loretta and Nana told stories of their childhood every night at the dinner table. I do not remember any specifics about the stories. I remember they had me laughing so hard about their antics.
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| Loretta Patterson & Anna Hork with brother, Jack Sullivan, July 1969 |
I wish I had the forethought to write down the stories. It would have been nice to have had a tape recorder to record their voices, but recorders were not a mainstream item people had in their homes. There are many questions now I wish I had asked my grandmother and her sister about their parents and grandparents. Sadly, they both died before I was married and thought about doing family history research.
I was lucky to have another grandmother who lived well into her 90s. I asked her many questions, and she was interested in the discoveries I found about her ancestors. So, I have some good anecdotes about her life to include in future family stories.
#52Ancestors-Week 15: Big Mistake
This is my eighth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe.
I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family (https://mam-massouthernfamily.blogspot.com/) or My Trails into the Past (https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/). I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
Copyright © 2011-2025 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.
Same big mistake I made. Sometimes older relatives would chat about the old days, but I wasn't listening or wasn't interested. If only I could go back and write it down!
ReplyDeleteI know!
DeleteSame here. I still have several aunts/uncles left but I can't seem to "get started" with this. I feel like I would be annoying to them, but perhaps they would welcome the chance to talk about their lives.
ReplyDeleteYes, you should do it. Sooner than later. They may welcome talking about their lives and the lives of their parents and grandparents.
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