Time flies. I resurrected this website a year ago, and I’m somewhat dismayed at how little I’ve shared here. Much of this problem is the fact my business has required a significant dedication of time and effort, particularly during the last several months. I’d like to think I’ll have a chance to catch my breath, but that may not be the case for some time.
I have taken some time recently to delve into my family’s history from an ancestry perspective. Using Ancestry.com and all the domestic records they’ve digitized, I’ve been able to match family memory with public records, like the Census, filling in some holes in my knowledge and getting to know some of the relatives I never had a chance to meet. Also, I’ve found a few existing family trees within the service with which I have a relative in common.
While visiting family in California for Thanksgiving this year, I was able to skim through many old documents my grandmother was able to save before she passed away, including birth certificates, a ketubah written in Aramaic, army records, and high school diplomas.
The biggest clue to family history on my father’s side, tracing family back to the time before they arrived in the United States, might have been a scanned family tree diagram sent through email about ten years ago. Unfortunately, no one I’ve talked to seems to have this email or attachment saved.
My next step would probably be to talk to many of the relatives included on the family tree to hear stories of relatives and further complete this project. I haven’t been a particularly good family member in the past, and I’m not in touch with much of my family. I’d be a bit nervous approaching anyone.
If you’re family and you’re interested in seeing what I’ve gathered so far, let me know.