52 Weeks of Genealogy...Week 3

Several months ago I posted a blog titled "Please Forward" asking readers...how many times have they moved in their lifetime? When I sat down and thought about it, I was shocked how many times I myself have moved (18 times). I've documented each and every address that I can remember and filed it in my own genealogy research. Just thought I would save my descendants a little bit of time in the event they ever wanted to trace my movements.

I have found that creating time lines for my ancestors helps me fill in the blanks. Of course, I document when and where they were born, married, and raised their families. But, as we know that is not the story...those are simply the facts. I have started documenting major events that took place in their community, their city, and the country. For example, my Great Great grandparents Charles and Katharine (Sommer)Ball were married here in Chicago in 1885. The Chicago Haymarket riots were in May, 1886. Charles and Katharine's daughter Alma was born in October of 1886. Another event I added to their timeline was the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition that was held here in Chicago, Illinois. Schooling, government, wars, presidents, vacations, those are events I love to add, to give my "facts" a story. I have started my own timeline....it's getting really long....I constantly think---to add or not to add...

When my oldest daughter graduated from college (yippee!) I wanted to give her something "little" because I had already given her her BIG present. The "little" gift was a scrapbook. Except it really wasn't a "little" gift, for one major thing....it took a lot of time and money! I started out at the beginning, making pages of all those major "milestones" in her life. It was fun to work on it. I found I kept wanting to add more and more. Thank heavens there were only so many pages that would fit in the book! I was pleased with the way it turned out. I never really thought of making one up for myself. I have a small collection of photographs from my childhood. I have more from my adulthood when I bought my own camera and started my love of photography. It wouldn't be hard to put one together, but it would take TIME!

Documenting my personal history would take some time. I know that I am so much more interested in the who, what, where, when, why, and how about my ancestors that I simply don't want to take the time to write my own. However, if I do a little bit at a time, like a baby step- I imagine it really won't really be that big of a project. What should I work on next??? Schools I attended, vacations I have taken, jobs I have worked at, friends in my life, hobbies I have had, genealogy dances I have danced, vital records I have found, ancestors I have connected, oops there I go again hmmmmmmm!