This is not something that bothered me before until my son asked why I don’t make one for our family. He made me wonder why that would matter, but as I thought about it, reality hit me. My children need to know who their ancestors are and what they brought to their lives today. It meant putting me back in the past and since that day he has reared his head again and again.
Looking back on my reasonably long life, the task is daunting. My grandparents, who are now your great-grandparents, along with their siblings, cousins, and others helped make one big family when we were growing up. Aunts and uncles came to stay, we visited many of them, and others showed up unexpectedly and were always welcome.
However, who they are and what role they play in the family tree has long been forgotten. Now it will take a lot of effort to put it together. This is probably something he should have done years ago when more of them were alive. The question now is whether or not it is too late and how important it is for my children.
The first place to start is the family album and there are the people who were around in my youth. There’s also ancestry.com, where my oldest daughter recently checked out family history. The job isn’t so daunting when it’s still in my memory, but if I quit now, who after me can do it?
As my son reminded me, they need to know who they are and where they come from. That makes it very important.
