It started out as a routine family history search – something I hadn't done since middle school. I had always been interested in family genealogy, coming from a family that was not very good at keeping records. I didn't really know anyone in my family beyond my immediate relatives and a few stories about my grandparents. It was almost as if no one was really interested in finding out. No one tried to discourage me from my family search, but relatives viewed me with a sort of bemused curiosity, as if I was doing something irrelevant by trying to find out where I came from.
Nonetheless, I proceeded with my ancestor search, and soon I began to see results. There was actually some pretty interesting history to my family. We came from about half a dozen different countries, and many of my ancestors have had some very exotic origins. I had some great grandparents who were horse thieves in Eastern Europe, and other ones who were fallen princes in Ireland. All in all, it was a dramatic and interesting picture, and one that made me feel pride in my rich and varied heritage. The family search, however, was just the beginning.
You see, I I followed the family search not just to me and my immediate kin, but also to other relatives in our generation. It was only a matter of time before I decided to find lost relatives. It seemed like such an exciting project that I didn't really know what to think. My mind was filled with all kinds of fascinating and bizarre images. Would they be fabulously wealthy and living in Latin America? Would they have died, penniless and alone, a few years before? Would I find pedigrees or death certificates? These were the questions that I was asking myself as I continued with my family searches.
As it turns out, my family search yielded mixed results. Many of my relatives searches ended up in dead ends. I don't know why, but an astounding number of relatives in my generation don't want to be found. I couldn't get beyond unlisted phone numbers and addresses or prolonged trips to third world countries where registration and records were not readily available. Nonetheless, I did get to meet a few people I never would have seen otherwise. We had an amazing amount in common considering the fact that we had never met. I suppose it ran in the family!
|
