Who They Were Shaped Who I Am - Part One

My mother left me her photo albums, scrapbook and a metal strongbox full of papers. These three things told the story of her life with my father. I put them away in the back of the closet, where the remained for many years.

In 1998 I found myself living alone for the first time - and found I enjoyed the solitude. I decided I wanted two things; to discover where I came from and in the process, discover who I was now. I pulled out the photos, scrapbook and box of papers and began to sort through the documents and scrap-paper notes. Some of them were obvious, old mortgage information, birth, death and marriage certificates, etc. Some were obscure clues to something else - part of a letter or numbers written on a torn corner from another paper.

I went to Best Buy and bought some family tree software. Then, I got on the Internet and researched 'how' to research. There were no online genealogy databases in 1998, but there were already many Internet-savvy family historians out there sharing their knowledge and connecting via dinosaur dial-up. From them I learned about the Family History Centers at local Church of Latter Day Saints facilities. I found the location and hours of the one closest to me, and spent many evenings and Saturday mornings scrolling through roll after roll of microfilm. Every minor find was a major victory and I expanded the branches on my family tree quite rapidly in the first few months.

From that time on, my ancestors have walked with me. Who they were shapes who I am. I like them (most of them) and I think they like me.