Holiday Time Means Family Time
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As the summer gives way to fall and winter, one of the things that we have to look forward to are the family gatherings that take place throughout the fall and winter months.Thanksgiving and Christmas usually offer the family time to spend together, whether its extended family or merely children and grandchildren who get together.
One of the things that I like to do with my own family as we gather for weekends, holiday meals or shopping is to take the time to impart some of the details about my own family to the children, to give them a base for wanting to know more.
When the ocassion warrants and we’re able to get together with the more distant members of the family,I like to bring with me a paper and pencils (yes, sometimes the family may groan a bit, but everyone likes talking about themselves don’t they??) and to take notes and keep us all up to date on whats changed in our family, such as births, adoptions or deaths.
Taking the time to glean new information and to gather all the information about not only your immediate family, but your extended family and record it may not seem all that important now, but someday it may prove quite useful.
When you go home, record it all in a notebook so that someone has details of records that may not be needed now, but may at some point be wanted by another family member..
Making sure that you have the details of the new granddaughter, or the new great niece is sometimes only possible when the family as a whole gathers and what better time than the holidays for making that happen.
When your family gathers for the holidays, take the time, not just to gather genealogical data from rthose who are present, but to instill a sense of family into your children and grandchildren.
Make sure that you take the time to make them interested in the rest of their family so that when its time for you to pass the torch to another generation of genealogists, there is one waiting, who is truly interested in keeping the family’s history alive.
