Family

For me, Christmas-time always brings “Family” to mind.

This year, my thoughts have focused once more on Family History, more so than on presents and the annual family dinner, in part because this is my first Christmas without dad but mostly because there isn’t a family dinner or get together of any kind planned due to the pandemic. Going through boxes of old files and photos has also certainly helped, as has starting a PowerPoint presentation for dad’s “future” internment and celebration of his life.

And wouldn’t you know it, a cousin who has been compiling information for a long time got in touch recently. He is also thinking about Family History once again. His grandfather is the brother of my father’s mother. I’m confused already! It’s easy though: his grandfather (Fred) and my grandmother (Rose) were siblings. They are the “children” in the above photo taken in 1903, before Eliza, Charles & Rose came to Canada, leaving Fred in England to finish his studies.

So far, I have 3 binders set up – one is information about my mother’s side of the family, one has information on my father’s family tree, and the other is all about my parents, their children, including me, and grandchildren. My sister started the binder system. I added the new “our generation” binder to it. This information is far from being as organized as I would like. Then, I have a large pocket file of information relating to my husband’s family. Why they don’t rate a binder? I don’t know. Likely just because I don’t have that much information collected on them… yet!

My plan for the New Year is to revisit the binders, add some tabs to create sections for different people, get back on Ancestry.com and get going with learning more about my family’s past. About where I come from. And maybe, just maybe, the process will help me figure out where I’m going!