Carol and all the Kilgore families: I totally agree with Carol's message on why we do family research. I've recently finished my husband's line and have given it to his family not truly knowing how they would feel about it (although they have helped with it in small ways). My fears have been greatly eased as each one was mesmerized as they turned page after page and began to realize just where their roots really were and what the ancestors had endured to pave the way for each of us today. The two years I spent researching, compiling and writing was definitely worth every minute I spent. My next project is to do the family research for my mother and father. So I guess I'm set for another two to four years at least. I can honestly say it has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. And, yet I'm already collecting more information to go in my next book for my husbands line. Sharon Kilgore ----- Original Message ----- From: Carol To: KILGORE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: 8/15/01 1:13:42 PM Subject: [KILGORE] Why we do family research I was sent this today by a friend and wanted to share it with all of you. It brought tears to my eyes and I said YES! This is why I do it! Carol We Are the Chosen (The Tribal Scribes) My feelings are that in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again... to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family and you would be proud of us?" How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me. I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying, I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take his/her place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Unknown ==== KILGORE Mailing List ==== Check out the Kilgore boards at: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/surnames/kil/KilgoreDeed http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/surnames/kil/KilgoreObits http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/surnames/kil/KilgorePens http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/surnames/kil/KilgoreWill --- Sharon Kilgore --- jskilgore@earthlink.net --- EarthLink: It's your Internet.