Dear Folks, I'm still working diligently on putting together my book and today I rediscovered one of the stories I'll be including. The author of the story is my friend Fred who had virtually no interest in genealogy. However, for years Fred put up with the genealogy passion that my sister Norma and I had. I was amazed that he finally understood that we were beyond help. We were "infected" with the genealogy bug and there's no cure for it. This is what "A. Nonnie Mousse" had to say about the subject back in 1999. vee Perspectives on Genealogy by 1.. Nonnie Mousse [AKA my friend Fred-Gottfried Heinz Walker-in Switzerland) February 22, 1999 "Only in America." A phrase often heard, less understood. Take as an example the latest American passion for genealogy. Nowhere else does one find such an interest in one's roots, be they of European descent or from one of the other continents. Did it get its impetus from the Mormon endeavor to get their (European, primarily) ancestry under one roof? The Alex Hailey novel, "Roots?" Or an unconscious yearning to just know more about who and what we are and were? We non-native Americans seem to have an overwhelming desire to learn from whence we stem. On the other hand, those who live in a land inhabited for centuries by their forebears have less curiosity in amassing information. The Swiss, for example, have records dating back for several hundreds of years, yet few make the effort to compile evidence of their lineage. Cantonal archives are overflowing with baptismal, marriage, testamentary records, but few families have used this harvest of data. They know from whence they came; they have no need to seek further. Swiss land is at a premium; therefore, gravesites are regularly re-used after about twenty-five years; the remains of the prior deceased are either taken by a descendant or taken care of in another manner. Used gravestones are often resold to a stonemason who will re-cut and resell that stone, perhaps more than once should he live so long. What else does one expect one to do with a stone that's no longer on a family member's grave because that grave no longer exists as such? Not everyone exposed to genealogy is smitten with the disease. Many are completely immune, others develop a mild fever that cools down over a few years, but an unfortunate number succumb to the virus. Those who fall under its spell entirely are easily recognizable. They always carry volumes of documentary evidence with them wherever they go; there is a glassy gleam in their eyes; their voices rise at least a full octave above normal whenever discussing their favorite subject; and, last but not least, they can't pass anything that appears to be a document older than last week's newspaper without snuffling through it. For these lost souls there is no cure. Treat them kindly.