My interest in my family history started about ten years ago when my cousin Terry and I were attempting to figure out how many great grandchildren our great grandparents Bert and Eva Hanaway had. You see we are part of that number. It wasn't too long or too hard to discover that the number was about one hundred fifty-three! It took writing a few letters to some of our cousins and connecting the dots. That started my family tree interest. Today I am clearly hooked. Since 1998 I have put together a family tree that currently has over 7,100 names!
For the last year I have been working on my mother's father's family. My grandfather Bert was adopted by his stepfather so it makes obtaining some of the vital records and other information a bit difficult to gather. To complicate matters, my mother and her father were very much estranged during my childhood. No one really talked about grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. All I can say is thank heaven for vital records!