Anyone else have such experiences with family members who do not seem even remotely phased in your genealogical research? It makes me mad when I mention some find or some aspect of my research and just get a "so what" stare or a "why bother" type comment. I have no regrets since I have been at this since I did a research project on my genealogy in high school. I interviewed my grandparents/aunts/uncles numerous times before their deaths and kept notes on all the info. Though sometimes this ended up being more of a problem when the info was incorrect. For example, I grew up listening to the hard-luck, depression era stories of my dad's "childhood" in inner city Chicago. How how he had to sell newspapers to help the family; walk to school in the snow uphill both ways, etc. Only to find out years later from my aunts that this was all "bull". They even pulled out family pictures to prove that they were well-off (for the depression). My dad, being the only son out of 8, is pictured in new, starched shirts, nickers and such. Not only that, but he was the only one given money everyday to take the street car to school. My aunts say that he laughed and spit at them as he drove by while they walked. Another example is an elderly relative I interviewed when I was 13. She said her father was named "Joe", only to find out years later that it was William. I do not have to mention the hours and years worth of research I wasted on that wild-goose chase. I also helped find a lost family bible in an attic from posting messages on a rootsweb list last year. Found a relative that remembered hiding it after I engaged her in genealogy. Rootsweb members even went to the house to try to obtain it. Dan Hogan On Sunday, January 18, 2004, at 12:09 PM, bhoudek wrote: > My parents. Much of what I now know has surfaced from third parties. > More > care should have been used in cleaning out my folks home---know lots of > documents including the old family Bible was pitched along with bags of > "junk" by folks that had no idea or interest in what they were doing. > > Fortunately I have two cousins who are deep into genealogy and provide > valuable information from their perspectives. Other branches of the > tree has > very little interest from the members. > > Bill Houdek > Ballwin, MO > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Bob Doerr" <bdoerr@rollanet.org> > To: <MO-STLOUIS-METRO-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 1:31 PM > Subject: [StL-Metro] Regrets > > >> Hi >> >> Which of your late relatives do you most regret not having asked for >> family-history details? >> >> We often visited my wife's grandparents and they visited us, but >> they're >> gone and his ancestry is unfound. >> >> >> Bob Doerr in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks >> >> >> >> >> >> ==== MO-STLOUIS-METRO Mailing List ==== >> Search the Archive of Messages for MO-STLOUIS-METRO Mailing List at > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=MO- > STLOUIS-METRO >> > > > > ==== MO-STLOUIS-METRO Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from this list, email > MO-STLOUIS-METRO-L-request@rootsweb.com; in the subject line, put only > the word UNSUBSCRIBE with nothing in the message body. You can > contact Michelle or Laura at MO-STLOUIS-METRO-admin@rootsweb.com. >

Hi, Dan, I have some family members who love what I am finding out and sharing with them. I have others who think this it is a waste of time. So why do I do it? Well even if my children don't care now, they might or perhaps the grandchildren I hope to see some day may care. If nothing else, I know that the contacts I have made with some of the older members of the family that I did not know existed until I took up this quest, seem to have enjoyed sharing what they remember. That in and of itself was a good thing for them and for me and for anyone else who cares to read what I have assembled with the help of so many good people. I think what matters is that you enjoy doing it for yourself. Then it really doesn't matter if someone else doesn't care. It is truly their loss. I find that I care not only about my own family and its stories of those of the other folks on this list and other lists I belong to. I have learned a lot about the world we live in by doing genealogy. We find out we all have "saints and sinners" in our lines but more importantly we all have real people who lived real lives trying to cope with whatever life through their way. Some of our relatives emerged as shining examples while others we may want to disassociate ourselves from...but we are not them, we are ourselves and we get to make our own daily choices. The straight facts of names, dates, places can be dry and uninteresting to other family members. Some have no idea what it takes to get those things right! But for me what really brings genealogy to life is how these folks lived, what they went through, the good and the bad. Many of us have lost members to wars, plagues, and even witch trial hysteria. Some have found members of colonial America. Others have found adoptions they never knew about and no living person knew about (I had that happen). Some of us have found that we are related to co-workers we have known for years or even friends. So, ignore those who mislead you (yep, I have had my share of the historically inaccurate family histories given to me as "gospel" by relatives who really thought it was the truth. I have also had family help me make some serious connections. Stay with it. Do it because it brings you joy. I have to say, I love the members of this list. This is one of the neatest and most interesting group of people I have ever had the pleasure to communicate with, to learn with, to share with. Laura ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Hogan" <dhogan@porterville.k12.ca.us> To: <MO-STLOUIS-METRO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 8:07 PM Subject: Re: [StL-Metro] Regrets > Anyone else have such experiences with family members who do not seem > even remotely phased in your genealogical research? It makes me mad > when I mention some find or some aspect of my research and just get a > "so what" stare or a "why bother" type comment. > I have no regrets since I have been at this since I did a research > project on my genealogy in high school. I interviewed my > grandparents/aunts/uncles numerous times before their deaths and kept > notes on all the info. Though sometimes this ended up being more of a > problem when the info was incorrect. For example, I grew up listening > to the hard-luck, depression era stories of my dad's "childhood" in > inner city Chicago. How how he had to sell newspapers to help the > family; walk to school in the snow uphill both ways, etc. Only to find > out years later from my aunts that this was all "bull". They even > pulled out family pictures to prove that they were well-off (for the > depression). My dad, being the only son out of 8, is pictured in new, > starched shirts, nickers and such. Not only that, but he was the only > one given money everyday to take the street car to school. My aunts say > that he laughed and spit at them as he drove by while they walked. > Another example is an elderly relative I interviewed when I was 13. She > said her father was named "Joe", only to find out years later that it > was William. I do not have to mention the hours and years worth of > research I wasted on that wild-goose chase. > I also helped find a lost family bible in an attic from posting > messages on a rootsweb list last year. Found a relative that remembered > hiding it after I engaged her in genealogy. Rootsweb members even went > to the house to try to obtain it. > Dan Hogan