What has doing your family history meant to you?

Question:

What has doing your family history meant to you?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Before I started working on my genealogy, I was like most people in that I knew what the origin of the names were, but not the PEOPLE in my tree. For example, my husband has the last name of Kelley so on Saint Patricks Day he has always said, I'm Irish. The fact of the matter is that I have yet to find his tie to Ireland, but he has a TON of English blood through his Harris, Harrison, Money, and Moody lines.

The truth of the matter is that you can't possibly know your family's origin unless you trace each generation person by person, generation by generation.

Doing my family history has given me a great appreciation for my ancestors. Every one of my lines were from families who left a homeland that they loved very much for a new life in America. These people didn't make their decision lightly. They were deeply religious people who prayed over their decisions. Most of them were farmers who worked very hard from sun up to sun down to make a go of their new life once they got here. When their decisions were made and carried out they renounced their citizenship of their beloved mother countries to become Americans.

Doing my genealogy has given me an appreciation for life and how fragile it is. I had many direct ancestors who died in their 30's from Tuberculosis, Athsma, and heart attacks, yet I had others that lived well into their 90's. Studying each generation has allowed me to put together a medical history I wouldn't have had otherwise. After doing my family tree, I've learned that even 100 years is a blink of an eye in history.

It has also given me something to pass down to my daughter. It may take her years to understand its true importance, but I believe that there comes a day when all of us search for who we are and where we've been.

Blessings to you.