GeneaBabble

I read a lot of genealogy news each day (RSS feeds are great), but this one item I came across is important not only to genealogists, but to everyone.

Over the past year, we have had three changes in our family tree, and a fourth due in a couple of months. Two brothers welcomed new grandchildren; my youngest brother’s wife is expecting her second child; and our dad, John “Jack” Murray, the creator and author of the monthly “Timelines” column, passed away on what would have been his 88th birthday last Friday morning.

As a true lover of genealogy, he left us with a detailed family story, a rich history of our ancestry complete with charts, historical documents and an extensive collection of family photographs dating back to the mid-1800s.

But with all his organization and research, some questions I never thought to ask will remain forever unanswered, for he is the last of his generation. [Read the full article - No, really, read it!]

It is so important to remember that our loved ones will not always be around. Once they’re gone you can’t ask them any more questions. We are busy people. We think, “I’ll ask him about that tomorrow. Right now I have to…” What if tomorrow never comes? Is all this crap that we fill our lives with really more important than family? Why do we waste so much time in useless activities that we think are important (most of them aren’t - trust me) rather than with our families and friends?

My father passed away in March, 2004. He was the one who got me interested in genealogy. I got a great deal of information from him. I am glad to say that before he died I was able to find out a lot about our family that we didn’t know. However, there’s so much that I wish I would have asked him. I always wanted to hear all of his stories about growing up in a small town in Iowa. He earned four Master’s degrees, a ThD and a PhD, but I never talked to him about his experiences in college. I always figured I’d have more time. I didn’t.

Genealogy is so much more than collecting names, dates and facts. It’s the stories of the lives of our relatives. It’s history that, if special care isn’t taken, will be gone forever. It is our duty to preserve this for ourselves, our family, and most importantly, future generations.

Please, folks, take time out of your “busy” schedules and spend more time with your family. We are, after all, genealogists. Isn’t family what it’s all about?

[Note: I mean it! Read that article! It’s got some good information on preserving family history.]