Genealogy

Anybody out there get into this stuff?

I love it. It's fun, it's addicting, but it's also frustrating as hell.

I have been in the process of tracing my n-family's genealogy, on both sides, which is to say, no small task. My father's side is particularly difficult as he was also adopted by his step-father, and my grandmother will not speak of her ex-husband no matter how much I try to convince her.

And thanks to the joys of sealed records, I can't get his OBC to find out anything about the man.

Oh but wait...there's something the state didn't think about...my father's older sister did NOT get adopted by their step-father, so her OBC is intact, never altered, and my n-grandfather's name is right there for anyone to see.

Bingo.

Now I just need to get to the vital records office one of these days to order a copy, which is another hurdle, as it is quite a distance. Pfffft.


But, just a tip that may help anyone who is doing family history research...if the family member you are researching yields a dead-end, try a sibling.

So I know that the man was Irish. And that on my mother's side, I am Austrian. There is also a fair amount of Norwegian and also some French mixed in. What a mix! I would really love to find out the names of the villages/towns/cities/or regions the families came from in these countries; to finally be able to have that connection to my real, true roots will be so grounding. I want to Google Earth them. I want to GO there, and walk the same streets. I want to try to imagine what these ancestors were like, what their lives were like & how they lived, loved, worked and played. They are my people, the people whose genes created the genes that created my genes.

Have I mentioned before how much I love history and the past? If someone ever invents a time machine, I'll be first in line to go.

Well, wish me luck, that I can unravel the mysteries of my own family history. With any luck, maybe in a year or two I'll be wandering the streets of a tiny Alpine village or taking in the green shores of Ireland, and reconnecting with who I really am.

It's about damn time too.