Heritage Hints From Mama – Getting in Touch With Your Living Ancestors
Getting In Touch With Your Living Ancestors-
Hello from the Deep South, home of magnolias, sweet tea and sweltering hot summers! I am Christy’s Mama and have been invited to share a little wisdom gleamed from my years of experience. Some of it may come in handy and others may just be a little bit of rambling thoughts from my cobwebbed brain. You can take either with a grain of salt. If you have any comments or suggestions along the way, they will be welcomed. Remember, I am getting old so coddle me a bit. Well, here goes!
Today I want to talk about our living ancestors. Do you have a grandparent, older aunt, or uncle living? If so, call today and set up a time for a visit. It doesn’t have to be in person if they live a little far off from you. A phone call will do nicely. I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised by the outcome and I’m sure your relative will be more than willing to talk with you. They are some of your family’s most precious resources- connect with them!
Is there a favorite food you enjoyed as a child that was prepared by someone in your family? Have you ever wondered about how family traditions started? Or have you ever thought about tracing your family tree? Your older relatives are the easiest way to solve these mysteries and sadly, once these relatives pass on, their knowledge goes with them.
Take a week or so, to think about growing up and some of the memories that come to mind. Make a list of questions you would like answered. You will probably be surprised at the things you think of. Christy hears of so many people that enjoyed a certain food when they were small and long for just one more taste of it. Most of the time it is an everyday food that was prepared from memory and just can’t quite be duplicated. All it would have taken was a few minutes to watch it being prepared and taking a few notes. But when that relative passed on, the recipe was lost forever. Don’t let this happen to you.
If you have ever thought of taking up genealogy as a hobby, your relatives are your best and easiest by far resource for getting a great start. Ask about grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Take detailed notes and list any names, locations, birth dates, marriages, deaths, etc. Let your relative talk about whatever crosses their mind. You will learn much more than names and dates. You will learn about the where and why that made your family what it was.
If you are able to, take older relatives back to where they lived and went to school, church, etc. It is amazing the stories that they will recall. I have done this with my mother who is 80 years young and even though I had asked questions a thousand times with no answers, it was amazing some of the things she remembered when taken back to the places where she had carried on her day to day life.
Also ask your older relatives if they have any old family pictures. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. By sure and list who the people are in the picture. Believe me, I am speaking from experience. You will probably forget Aunt Sophie’s sister’s name and where they were when the picture was taken. Nowadays, it just takes a quick trip and a little cash to get a picture copied. The old pictures don’t mean a thing if you don’t know who is in them. Old pictures are some of my most prized possessions and I’m sure they will become some of yours too!
To get you started, take a minute and think about what you would have liked to know from relatives who have passed on. Then, you may just realize the importance of taking advantage of the resources you have before they are gone. We are all busy and even though we have good intentions, it seems like we have a hard time getting around to some of the important aspects of our lives. Please make an appointment to take care of a little family business before it is too late. This is just a little advice from me to you.
I’d love to hear some of the wisdom or family history you have uncovered just by taking the time to talk with your living relatives. Please feel free to chat with me in the comments section below. I’ll read them all and look forward to answering!
I’ll be talking with you from time to time but until then, remember Mama loves you and I’ll see you soon!
~Mama
“There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children – one is roots, and the other, wings.”
~Hodding S. Carter
When my granddaughter was born in November 2013, i began a journal for her and my thoughts about her, my prayers for her and i will add my childhood memories to it. Maybe she will enjoy reading it one day.
You are so so right. There are things my granny and mom used to make that are gone with them.
And while you are gathering recipes, pictures and stories….get medical histories too if you can.
I just found out recently my grandpa died of colon cancer…one of those that can be passed..
So take the time….you cant get back what is lost.
My biggest regret is not getting out the video camera when my mama-in-law was telling her stories. What a blessing it would be to pull out that tape and watch her with the family over and over again telling her stories. Capture them on film telling their stories … PRICELESS.
Very good advice to the younger ones !(whatever the age!) so much gets lost because we do not take the time to visit and ask questions of our family!-that wonderful favorite family recipe, family history which may be gone forever, or just the time spent with family which is so important! Thank you for your lovely writing–look forward to more!
What a wonderful column – we can surely see where Christy gets her creative writing talent!
Great ideas for sure – I am 59 and when my Mom was still with us she spent years putting family albums together for my brother and I, as well as her youngest brother. She would also put captions under many of the pictures, so we would know who the different family members were.
After Mom passed to her heavenly reward (as she would always say) we would look through the volumes of pictures during the holidays, and tell our kids the stories that Mom and Pop told through the years – this is our way of keeping the family history alive for the ages. Amazing how kids love to hear about great-great grandparents coming to America from Germany, France, etc. and hearing experiences such as the night they first had electricity!
My dad’s side of the family has been traced back further than my mom’s. We are members of the First Families of the Tennessee Valley. That means that we can certify that our family was here when Alabama became a state. I sent our info in so that future generations can find our research when they hit our certificate. I still need to get more of my info into the computer and go through pictures but it is a huge job. Take care and have a great day. Janice
I thank the Good Lord that my oldest son enjoys gathering information on his family. He has traced his dads ancesters back to the 600’s. My side of the family can’t be traced that far but we do go back a few hundred years. Now my great, great, great, great grandchildren will have all of that information.