Sentimental Sunday & Monday Madness - Some Days I Just Wanna Cry!

Researching my family history is a very emotional experience for me, as I’m sure it is for many researchers. Each newly discovered piece of information fills in another piece of the puzzle, but also presents you with more questions and creates even more empty spaces in that puzzle that is your family tree. Our family stories need to be told, and we were chosen by our ancestors to do just that...tell their stories. It is imperative that we record and preserve our family history. No one said it would be easy, but it is necessary. There are highs and lows, jackpot days and empty days, and many brick walls to tackle. It’s a roller coaster ride of emotions, and I love it all.  Sometimes, however, I can't help but wonder about the things I'll never find, and....

Some Days I Just Wanna Cry!

For all the brick walls I’ll never break through
For all the documents I’ll never find
For all the burned courthouses where ashes held the answers I seek
For all the times no one took the time to write it down
For all those known only by their sex, age and race
For all those that died before anyone knew they were ever alive
For all those who survived with no clues left to trace
For all the photos with no name, date, or place
For all the lost memories, and those too ugly to share
For all the unidentifiable and unmarked graves
For all the cemeteries too unimportant to save
For all those ancestors I'll never know
For all those I find, but can’t prove they are mine....

Some Days I Just Wanna Cry!

[Image Source: Blue Monday. Artist: Annie Lee]

Where’s YOUR Family “STUFF”?

Once again I am inspired by my genea-friend Luckie Daniels and her recent post on Our Georgia Roots - What Is YOUR Family Story? Learn-Document-SHARE! Luckie challenged all of us to become better preservers of OUR family history. I believe that preservation has to start with us. WE must become better keepers of OUR family "STUFF".

I cannot tell you how many times I've asked family members for information (stories, pictures, documents..anything) only to be told...girl, I don't have any "stuff", or honey I just don't remember any of that old "stuff", or (my favorite) child, I don't know what happened to all that old "stuff". I’m sure you’ve heard similar responses to your requests for family information. Well, that "stuff" was/is your family history. We can't get angry with anyone but OURSELVES if WE don't start taking better care of OUR "stuff".

I remember calling my Auntie Ruth one day and asking what she was doing. She said "just throwing away some old stuff." This is my aunt on my paternal side, my father’s sister, so of course I was very curious about this "stuff". "What kind of stuff" I asked. She replied "oh just some old pictures and things." "NO" I screamed. After some back and forth, I convinced her to dig the pieces of "stuff" out of the trash and save it all for me. A few days later, I received an envelope in the mail. Inside that envelope was some very precious family "stuff" torn into pieces. I was able to piece together and save a picture of my grandmother, and a photo of my father and his brother taken about 1925 when they were little boys. There were also a few pictures of my Auntie Ruth in her younger days. A special piece of "stuff" was my aunt’s high school diploma-torn in half. My aunt had told me the story of how when she was in high school she gave herself a middle name because everyone had one except her. So now I have the high school diploma for Ruth "Louise" Taliaferro. I am so happy that I made that call at that time and saved some of my family "STUFF".

For the majority of African Americans our ancestors' stories were never told, recorded or preserved. It is an awful and frustrating reality. However, it will be even more awful if we do not stop the cycle of indifference and disinterest in our own family history. Let's all do a better job of telling our ancestors' stories-of keeping and preserving our family history. Let’s all do a better job of preserving, recording, documenting, and sharing our "STUFF" for our ancestors, ourselves, and more importantly, for our future.

So, my question to you....Where’s YOUR Family "STUFF"?