Genealogy is not for the faint of heart.
Once you get started, you just can not stop. Although I’ve done years and years of research, I recognize that methods have changed and I’m not as organized as I thought I was.
On some branches, I have gone as far as I think I can go. On others, my tenacity won’t let me quit chipping away at my brick walls. Early this year I decided I would refresh my research. I took the Boston University Genealogical Principals certificate course and the Fundamental Methods and Strategies track with the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI). I got more involved in my genealogical society, AAHGS, and volunteered to present topics on how to research. I started looking at my research with “beginner” eyes. This has helped me really focus on what I know or what I thought I knew, and look at the gaps to start new research. It helped me learn to question my research so that I could really provide depth about it. It’s one thing to discuss your research with someone and run down how this person is connected to that person and how the records told you so. It’s quite another to tell the story while providing the facts that back it up.
Our ancestors are trying to tell us something, the best way to honor them is to do our best research and tell their story.