#52Ancestors: Love

I can't believe how much I have struggled with this week's Valentine's Day-themed prompt: LOVE. 

Well, you know what?

 I ❤ my ancestors!

I don't know why it took me so long to settle on that truth, but the fact is I have been fascinated with genealogy before I'd ever even heard the word. I was very blessed to have the opportunity to spend lots of time with both sets of my grandparents growing up as they lived in the same town. One of my favorite activities, whenever I visited my maternal grandmother, was to haul out an old suitcase she had in a closet full of old family photos. I loved looking through that suitcase! I asked, over and over, "Who's this?" "Who are these people?" "Where was this taken?" until I almost began to believe I had been there and knew them, too. My paternal grandmother's photos rested on a bookshelf up the steep set of stairs to the room my brothers and I stayed in when we visited. I snuck looks at those albums and tried to make sense of the old obituaries I found within their pages and how they were connected to the people pictured there. 

I had a rather nomadic childhood and, as I got older, I stumbled when people asked me where I was from or where was my hometown. Maybe this sense of rootlessness is one reason the ancestry bug infected me so early. But that isn't the whole story. In a recent New York Times article, Why You Should Dig Up Your Family’s History — and How to Do It by Jaya Saxena, the author writes "Whatever you do, be prepared to fall down a rabbit hole, Ms. Koch-Bostic said. “I think it appeals to people who love an intellectual pursuit, because that’s really what it is,” she said. “It’s solving a puzzle at the highest level, and the benefit is that you get to find out about your family.”

That intellectual, problem-solving element is certainly a big part of what keeps me interested... and challenged. I alternate between thinking my ancestors are leaving me a cosmic breadcrumb trail helping me find their stories and thinking they are playing a neverending game of hide-and-seek. I am constantly gleefully snickering "You can't hide from me!" and wailing "Where are you?" I am so glad that I am a mixture of heritages, all having immigrated during different time periods. I love that the stories of each of my ancestral lines is different from the others. I'm grateful for the experience I've gained researching my ancestors myself and not relying on others' {uncited!} trees. My Dad often lamented I was more interested in dead people than living ones but one of the greatest gifts genealogy has given me is the shared passion with my aunt. Who knew what wonderful adventures it would lead us on!

So, thanks, genealogy! I love you so!