Who Do You Think You Are?

Have you caught an episode ofWho Do You Think You Are yet? I find it fascinating to watch. It's a genius premise for a show because of the pure fact that our histories are full of mystery, and uncovering it all is so interesting!

The above picture was taken at my parent's wedding, March 2, 1968 and thus begins my history. Isn't it good to look at them, to look at their beautiful young happy faces? Look at those faces, pictured with my mom's parents Oscar and Rebecca on the left and my dad's parents Luella and Ralph on the right. Those faces make me who I am. I love those faces.

Sadly, none of my grandparents are living. I lost both grandpas in 1986. Both grandmas lived into their late eighties, which bodes well for my genes. They were amazing women, each in different ways.

My grandma Zenor(my dad's mom) was the perfect grandma to me when I was a little kid. She taught me all about the names of plants and flowers. She baked the tastiest bread, served with her homemade strawberry or blackberry freezer jam. She was a storyteller and to this day my brothers and I remember one story she used to always tell about an indian boy, Hosteen taking care of his sheep on a stormy night. We always went to church with her, and she was always the one who wanted to hear about the boy I liked into my adolescent years. She loved unconditionally.

My grandma Becky was the grandma we always visited down in Medford who would take us shopping each spring. She gave me a writing desk that belonged to her mother and said on my graduation that today I was a big frog in a little pond, and that in college I would be a little frog in a big pond, but that one day I would be a big frog in a big pond again. I really got to know Grandma Becky best when I did my teaching program down in Ashland and spent a lot of time with her. Shucks, we watched the OJ chase together. She related to me really well as an adult, and was an amazing woman, a college grad, and always exercising her mind with crossword puzzles.

I miss my grandmas. I feel thankful that I probed them both for information about their families' histories when they were alive. Ancestry was interesting to me even when I was young!

Last year, inspired by Who Do You Think You Are, I did a trial membership on Ancestry.com and added a ton more information to my family tree. It was HIGHLY addictive and it was probably a good thing the trial only lasted two weeks because for those two weeks I was completely preoccupied. It's really exciting when little questions about your ancestors finally get answered and you can add little peices to the puzzle. I have tentatively traced my mom's mom's side way back to people whose address was Colonial America. Wow.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love this blog!!!! Love, love love it. I can hardly wait to take up where you left off on the geneology search. We'll trace ourselves back to the dark ages. Who knows to whom we may be related. mrl