So I started doing genealogy during the Summer of 2015.

It was the first official time I created an Ancestry.com account and began building family trees for myself and family members.

But my love of family history began long before that.

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Family Stories

My grandfather was a big inspiration for learning more about our ancestors.

He would tell stories from his childhood experiences and memories of relatives.

A lot of them were quite funny!

I loved when my grandfather would take out the old slide projector.

We would set up the big screen, turn off the lights and all huddle around the family room to watch each picture appear.

He would always explain who people were and where the picture was taken.

(Many years down the line I digitized all of the slides so we have extra copies.)

Pictures

I realize today that my love for genealogy truly began with the photographs and the stories that went along with them.

It was so interesting to me to learn what their lives were like and what they looked like.

And even more fun to find family resemblances or similar personally traits or mannerisms.

It’s so funny how that works, DNA can impact what we are all like even if we never met the person.

Research

So once I became and adult that’s when I started getting more interested in the facts and details about our ancestors.

It is always so much fun to find a new document, record, or picture.

Once my family and I did DNA tests it’s exciting to see new matches pop up on our account and figuring out how they are related.

And the search for new information will never really end!

So it is a fun hobby that will always keep going!

More Articles

To learn genealogy research tips here are some helpful articles: Family Tree Research

To read shorter, more personal blog posts: Personal Sharing