Genealogists often focus on deceased ancestors, overlooking the importance of recording stories from living relatives. Interviewing family members can be done in various ways: casual conversations, prompted journals, or engaging in shared activities. Focus sessions on specific life areas for deeper insights. Remember to document their experiences and also share your own life for future generations.
Exploring family history can extend beyond genealogy to amateur anthropology by using the senses to connect with ancestors’ lives—through touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. By immersing in their world using artifacts, photos, recordings, and even replicating their recipes and gardening habits, one can gain a deeper, empathetic understanding of their heritage.
Which DNA test should you choose? Learn how to determine which is best for you and how you may be able to use them all without having to pay for them all.
These are just some of the things I remember and some of the things I still get to enjoy about visiting my grandparents. It is a special relationship and they are lovely, kind, wonderful people. I hope I make my grandkids feel at home someday by just being with them like my grandparents have made me feel when I’m with them.
Curious about your family tree and those distant cousins you only see at reunions? Understanding counting cousins can unravel the intricate web of familial relationships that extend through generations. From first cousins to fourth cousins and beyond, the numerical labels of kinship provide clarity on how you are connected to your extended family members.
The blog post delves into the complexities of nature versus nurture, discussing the impact of genetic memory and familial traits on individual identity, with references to studies and personal anecdotes. It explores how both cultural evolution and inherited characteristics shape our behavior and personality, touching on topics of generational trauma, epigenetics, and the psychological concept of the collective unconscious. Personal reflections and real-life examples underscore the ongoing debate between individualism and inherited identity, suggesting a profound interconnectedness across generations.
Epigenetics involves behavioral and environmental influences on gene function, with reversible changes that don’t alter DNA sequences. The author reflects on their curiosity about inherited memories, intuition, and ESP, acknowledging a non-expert stance. They explore nature vs. nurture, referencing historical philosophical debates on human knowledge origins, indicating a blend of genetic traits and environmental factors shape us.
A family connection to history, detailing my great-grandpa Frank Bowers’ ownership of a book on the Titanic, their grandma meeting survivor Frank Goldsmith, and the tale of my other great-grandfather, Carl Ekstrom, who immigrated to the US via the Titanic’s sister ship Olympic in 1914.
The post shares a transcribed love letter from the author’s great-grandmother, Sallie Gillespie, to William Bowers from 1898 Georgia. Sallie expresses her affection for William and details some local happenings. The couple married later that year and had six children. The author reflects on this family history, connecting it to their own relatives and seeking to learn more about the people mentioned in the letter.
My great-grandmother Fox would ask about her husband’s parents, especially his father’s family but very short answers were given. “He was born in New York or New Jersey.” This is a branch that continues to be a mystery to us.
0