There is something comforting in knowing where you came from and the stories of your family and your ancestors. I was raised being told the stories of my grandparents when they were children, and as they grew into adults. I try to share those stories with my children as well. I’m also touched by the stories of their parents, my great grandparents and the sacrifices that each of them made to protect their family.
These stories give me strength as I face the challenges in the world today. Genealogy is about finding that connection and that strength. Tracing your family line back through history to learn the challenges that your ancestors came, and to anchor yourself to a place, a heritage, and a culture.
As you do your genealogy, it is often helpful to do research of the culture and traditions that your ancestors had. Learning that your ancestors fled religious persecution and chose the United States as a refuge is common story, and it has lasted through many generations; different religions, different places, and different times. The difficulties that a country faced to cause people to move are other interesting things to learn about.
It is also nice to learn more about the folk art and traditions of your ancestors. You may be able to incorporate some of the traditions into your family’s traditions. You may also want to display your family’s coat of arms, tartan or other family symbol in your home. These traditions can not only make your family celebrations more meaningful but can also teach your children more about their ancestors and the lives that came before them.
As you do this research consider the ways that you can incorporate it into your genealogy. If you are writing a book, it can be included in the book about your family, but if you are simply completing a chart, it may be more difficult to include. If you have a website you could include a section about the history surrounding the area that the family resided in to help people understand the types of lives they lived.
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