I thought these two items might express some of your hopes and frustrations. Have a happy brick-wall-breaking New Year! The following is to be sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". On the twelfth day of Christmas My true love gave to me, Twelve census searches, Eleven printer ribbons, Ten e-mail contacts, Nine headstone rubbings, Eight birth and death dates, Seven town clerks sighing, Six second cousins, Five coats of arms, Four GEDCOM files, Three old wills, Two CD-ROMS And a branch in my family tree. Tracing My Family Tree I started out calmly tracing my tree To find, if I could, the makings of me. And all that I had was great grandfather's name Not knowing his wife or from which way he came. I chased him across a long line of states And came up with pages and pages of dates. When all put together it made me forlorn I'd proven poor great grandpa had never been born!! One day I was sure the truth I had found Determined to turn this whole thing upside down I looked up the records of one Uncle John But found the old man to be younger than son! Then when my hopes were fast growing dim I came across records that must have been him. The facts I collected then made me quite sad Dear old great Grandfather was never a Dad! I think maybe someone is pulling my leg. I'm not at all sure I wasn't hatched from an egg. After hundreds of dollars I've spent on my tree I can't help but wonder if I'm really me!! Mrs. Charles Dean ==== EGGLESTON Mailing List ==== ==============================