The idea of creating a website to tell my family stories had been rolling around inside my head for a couple of years. First, there was the idea of creating a YouTube channel where I could create, record, and share short videos of family stories as I learned about their lives. The more I thought about the idea, the more I realized the magnitude of taking on such an endeavor.
As I searched for and explored ideas and options to tell my family stories, a little whispering kept coming to me, “JUST START.” So that is what I’m doing, I’m starting.
I wonder, is that little whisper my family members telling me, “don’t let us be forgotten?” I wonder?
As I think about this, it reminds me of the movie Field of Dreams. In this movie, the voice says, “If You Build It, He Will Come.”
Will my deceased and living family members come? That is the question.
The stories I tell come from my research, journals, books, family genealogy, and the stories that have been told and given to me. Where I can, I include photos of individuals and snapshots of records and documents I come across. At some point, I will add a page or two dedicated to the unknown people in the photos found in my paternal grandmother’s belongings at her death. My hope with this page is will be that someone will recognize a photo so that we can identify and attach it to the family tree.
As I go on this quest of discovery, to discover my family, their stories, and histories, I hope that you will feel inspired to search out your family, their histories, their stories, and share them so they will be remembered and not forgotten by future generations.
If you are so inspired, I would love to hear some of your family stories, they always encourage me to do more.
Now, given the frailties of men, you will find errors and misspellings, but that is to be expected as our ancestors had them, also, so don’t judge me too hard, after all, I’m a descendant of them. So if you come across one, just drop me a note and I will do my best to clean it up and fix it.
Matt