I’ve always found genealogy fascinating. Part of it comes from my love for history, the other part comes from my love for my family and wanting to know all there is to know about them. I remember going to the New York Public Library with my mother and sister when I was about seven to check out their genealogy section. It was hot and muggy and there might have been an Italian ice or two involved to get us through, but our mission was to see if we could find the manifests for the ship that brought my great-grandfather Samuel here from Minsk. Or was it Pinsk? I could have spent hours staring at microfiche, even at that young age.
A few years ago, when the NBC show (now on TLC) Who Do You Think You Are? came on, it renewed my passion and I got myself a subscription to Ancestry.com. At one point, I had researched back four generations on both my father’s and mother’s sides. I hit a bit of a wall because many of my older relatives on my mom’s side had already passed and didn’t leave us much to go on.
Here is a picture of my grandmother when she was a baby, and her parents from the late 1920s – she is the reason I have most of the information I do about my mother’s side:
I didn’t have much of a relationship with my father at the time, and had no one to ask about that side at all. And when it really came down to it, I didn’t have Lisa Kudrow’s money to pay a special genealogical assistant, fluent in Russian, Polish and Spanish to travel to far-flung countries to discover my roots. So I gave up.
I know I had family from both Belarus and Poland on my mother’s side. On my father’s side, both of his parents were born in Puerto Rico, but I’ve also heard that the lineage traces back to Spain and some native people of South America. I have proof of neither.
Today, I have a better relationship with my father, however Ms. Kudrow’s fortune has yet to find me and my long-lost relatives have not come back from the beyond. Such a bother really…but…
I definitely want to know more.
For more on the A to Z Challenge, please go HERE.
Stay tuned during the month of April to see what other subjects I want to explore…I’ll return to my senses on May 1.
Photos like the one of your grandparents are priceless. I have a few of my ancestors that I cherish too.
Good luck with AtoZ!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you and yes, I love these pics. My mother has many more because my grandmother was much like me in that she was interested in familial history. She had a collage of these made and framed! Thanks for visiting and commenting 🙂
LikeLike
Wow, your grand mother is a very pretty baby! 🙂
I never looked into my ancestry and I haven’t seen that show either, even though TLC is quite a favorite channel of mine. It must be really fun to look into it, right?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – yes it is fun, can just be frustrating when you hit roadblocks! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLike
ah, what a beautiful child! Never dug into my ancestry, I am adopted so that would be difficult, but interesting. Love your blog! Blessings!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
LikeLike
I am into the ancestry thing as well. I love digging up things like: an ancestor being a blacksmith or traveling in a covered wagon….It is so amazing and addicting when you get started.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! I’ve never found anything that interesting… At least not yet! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLike
I went CRAZY on ancestry.com, I think my eyes dried out in the process but I love digging through documents and piecing together the history. Fun personal journey!
LikeLiked by 1 person
For sure! LOL at the eyes dried out comment…thanks for stopping by!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed that show too! And I signed up for an Ancestry account. My dad’s brother has done that side so I am working on my mother’s side with my uncle’s help. Though, during the school year, I cancel my account. I can’t teach and spend hours on that site. LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes I feel like I can’t teach and do anything else! Except parent and blog 🙂 Thanks for visiting 🙂
LikeLike
I really enjoy that show too 🙂 Unfortunately our elders were not a chatty group. They usually responded to questions with ” Why do you want to know about that. It ‘s over.” Then they went back to their card game.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw no, that’s a bummer.
LikeLike
And by the by, thanks for visiting!
LikeLike
You and I were both inspired by that show! Shortly after watching a few episodes, I got an ancestry.com account and binge-searched for almost a month. I used all of my free time to research, print documents, create family trees, and it was such a great experience! I was able to solve a number of unanswered family “mysteries” which was so incredibly rewarding.
So happy I came across your blog! I’m absolutely loving your writing and look forward to reading more! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it – thanks so much for visiting and commenting. Yeah, that show is really cool, I really need to get back into doing my own tree…not only for me but for my little one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow ! thats so nice, I loved your subject, I tried to explore about my family, but could not get much.. its really interesting, thanks for sharing…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for reading and commenting!
LikeLike
[…] though I’ve been busy doing the A to Z Challenge, I still wanted to feed my newest addiction – the Weekly Photo Challenge. This past […]
LikeLike
You have such a varied family geography, wow! I look mixed race but my parents look white and so do their parents. I say ‘look’ because judging on how I’ve come out, who knows!? It is an expensive and confusing pursuit genealogy and I, like you don’t have the funds – unfortunately.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it is quite varied…and oh what I’d do with money in this case ….thank you for reading and commmenting!
LikeLike
[…] A is for Ancestors […]
LikeLike
I know- I’m so very late here! I love ancestry!!! In the past years I’ve spent so much time trying to trace back my family line. Usually it sucks up days and days of my time, then I put it away and forgot what I’ve done only to take days and days to figure out what I have. I haven’t looked at it in a few years but I would love to dig deeper….. And have Lisa Kudrow’s money.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wouldn’t we all LOL? And you are not late…never too late to read or comment!
LikeLiked by 1 person