More than thirteen years ago one of the members of my Mother's
extended family wanted to collect the life stories of the families
that descended from my Grandfather. Unfortunately they weren't
able to get enough interest in the project to make it happen.
Then about three years ago one of my cousins, now a Grandmother
herself, took up the project, fearing that soon many of our
Aunts and Uncles would not live long enough to recount their
stories. This time she had quite a bit of success and was able
to collect many histories that would have been lost forever
without her patience and perseverance. We had a treasure house
of information on the extended family!
But I didn't understand how much of a treasure I really had
until the day I started a new project to publish the loose-leaf
information my cousin had put together.
I wanted to work on another project about the same time, that
of putting together a Family Tree of the extended family.
Now, as I typed the Family stories into the computer, I was
able to collect a very large portion of genealogical information
and store it in my Family History program. I got two projects
for the price of one... the Family Tree, and the Family Book!
However, the extent of the treasure I now had at my fingertips
didn't just stop with the Family Tree, it also enriched my
understanding of people and families I had lost contact with
long ago. As I typed, I read of people in the US, in Canada,
in Mexico and other countries. I read of families that had
adopted special needs children, families that had been involved
in numerous Church positions, individuals that had traveled to
foreign countries and even one individual that had been a
hippie.
One of the most interesting Family History was an account of
a couple that bought a trimarand, a boat much like a catamarand,
and sailed around the world for an extended period of time,
ten years. They recounted in great detail the experience that
ended the joy ride... a storm off the Cape of Good Hope in
South Africa. Their experience was fascinating. They recounted
how they encountered the storm, how the waves, which normally
drive in one direction, seemed to come from all directions
giving them no clue as to how to position the boat to avoid
problems. They told how they waited for a couple of days of
continually battling the elements before putting out a
"May Day". But even after help was sent, the waves were so
tall, they couldn't line up their smaller vessel with the ship
that was trying to save them. Finally they were able to get
help from another ship, but as they were rescued, their poor
boat was damaged beyond repair against the side of the ship
saving them and they had to abandon it altogether.
Treasures like these and many others could have been lost
forever by simply not taking the effort to share life
experiences by contributing to a Family History Book of the
extended family.
Don't let life get in the way of sharing your experiences.
Organize your Family and encourage them to share their Family
Histories with the extended Family! Since starting the Family
History Book at least two of my Aunts have died. I'm so very
glad my cousin took the effort to collect the treasures before
they disappeared forever!
Copyright © 2002, Dale Lee
About the Author:
Dale Lee is a computer consultant who has been
involved in Genealogy for over 12 years. For
information on how to publish your own Family
History or book manuscript, visit
LeeSysInfo.com.
