Research to identify your ancestors

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Genealogy/Family History Project Ideas...#6

(Note...see the very beginning of this blog for important steps on how to get started on your genealogy).


.... A Project...If You Have Taken Lots of Fun Trips ....


We all take trips....some more than others, .......some more fun than others!

A very interesting legacy that you can leave for your posterity is to write about your trips. Make it something like a travelogue and put the story of each trip into a 3-ring binder or album. Also include photographs of your trip. Leaving something like this tells more about you and where you liked to go and the sites you enjoyed.

When I was 18 years old, I traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles with about six college girls. We took two cars. Most of our trip was along the old Route 66 Highway. We had such a fun time. I would write detailed letters back home telling about each days journey....what area we covered and what we saw. Boy, would I give anything if I had those letters today!!! But, they were not kept...they do not exist any more. Those letters were part of my life and I shared something of myself through them. Maybe this is a good reminder to save all letters. Someday they will help tell a story of someone.


That is what leaving a legacy of our self for our posterity is all about....leaving bits and pieces of our life, our self, for others to know us by.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Genealogy/Family History Project Ideas...#5

(Note...see the very beginning of this blog for important steps on how to get started on your genealogy).


----- A Project....If Your Hobby and Talent is Woodworking -----


I have two sons that have a side business and talent of making furniture and other items out of wood for people. They followed certain steps, which gave me this idea for a project you can leave for your family:

1) They sketched a picture of the item they were going to build.

2) Periodically as they were building the item, they would take photographs of it.

3) When the item was completed, they again took photographs of it from different angles.

4) They put their sketches and photographs of each item they built, into an album.

So, if your talent and hobby is creating things out of wood (or metal, or whatever).....follow the steps above and form a nice keepsake album of your work. Leaving an album such as this for your posterity will enrich their understanding of you and the talent you were blessed with. Maybe one of the items you make will become a family heirloom some day!