Genealogy
Genealogy.
I live in a community that has various clubs/groups/activities. Recently a friend started a genealogy group, which I wanted to support.
Older people do genealogy. Younger people don't. There are lots of reasons, and I've only got the data points of my life. As we get older, we remember our families and their impact on us. We remember the stories our grandparents told, and wish we had written those down. Sometimes we want to understand how we got here.
To me, the frustration is that the names and dates don't tell the whole story. A friend is frustrated that he'll be shown as married once, with no children. The reality is that he's raised three children, though they weren't his. He's passed experience, and love to children, who will pass those qualities to next generations. So the official record isn't a good reflection of what really happened. Another challenge is that only the people who didn't reproduce are not included. Sure, they are aunts and uncles, and rate a branch here or there. In my family there are some interesting people whose branches die out.
Even my family may wither in a genealogical sense. I'm the oldest of three girls. Only I had a child, and that child (seems strange to call her that, she's a full grown adult) has not had a child. Will the family die out? Maybe. Does it matter? Maybe not.
I suspect younger people focus on today, rather than history. They may be a bit skeptical of the history provided by historical records. A friend's mother was a genealogist, and told a story of a widow who had a child two years after her husband died. (This was several centuries ago). The husband was listed as the father of the child in the baptismal record. Obviously this was incorrect (although with modern science is possible today) This example, and many less well documented examples are why the records can be incorrect.
What is fascinating to me is the timeline, the history of why a family left the old country at a specific time. There were brokers who arranged ship transport and resettlement in the new country. My family came from Germany, around 1840. Here's a website that explains the factors influencing that migration. http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/kane98/kane_p3_immig/German/germany.html
I suspect younger people are more focused on now not history. It is reassuring for an older person to hear that they look like or act like their parents. A younger person may consider that a limitation.
Meanwhile, I'm in that sandwich generation... standing between my parents and my child, seeing both perspectives.
I live in a community that has various clubs/groups/activities. Recently a friend started a genealogy group, which I wanted to support.
Older people do genealogy. Younger people don't. There are lots of reasons, and I've only got the data points of my life. As we get older, we remember our families and their impact on us. We remember the stories our grandparents told, and wish we had written those down. Sometimes we want to understand how we got here.
To me, the frustration is that the names and dates don't tell the whole story. A friend is frustrated that he'll be shown as married once, with no children. The reality is that he's raised three children, though they weren't his. He's passed experience, and love to children, who will pass those qualities to next generations. So the official record isn't a good reflection of what really happened. Another challenge is that only the people who didn't reproduce are not included. Sure, they are aunts and uncles, and rate a branch here or there. In my family there are some interesting people whose branches die out.
Even my family may wither in a genealogical sense. I'm the oldest of three girls. Only I had a child, and that child (seems strange to call her that, she's a full grown adult) has not had a child. Will the family die out? Maybe. Does it matter? Maybe not.
I suspect younger people focus on today, rather than history. They may be a bit skeptical of the history provided by historical records. A friend's mother was a genealogist, and told a story of a widow who had a child two years after her husband died. (This was several centuries ago). The husband was listed as the father of the child in the baptismal record. Obviously this was incorrect (although with modern science is possible today) This example, and many less well documented examples are why the records can be incorrect.
What is fascinating to me is the timeline, the history of why a family left the old country at a specific time. There were brokers who arranged ship transport and resettlement in the new country. My family came from Germany, around 1840. Here's a website that explains the factors influencing that migration. http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/kane98/kane_p3_immig/German/germany.html
I suspect younger people are more focused on now not history. It is reassuring for an older person to hear that they look like or act like their parents. A younger person may consider that a limitation.
Meanwhile, I'm in that sandwich generation... standing between my parents and my child, seeing both perspectives.
Comments
Post a Comment