Climb This Tree

Yesterday afternoon the Widow Bailey (aka my mom) made a strange request that when I came to her house this am I was to bring my computer and my printer...I thought this very odd.

However when I arrived she explained why she had wanted me to bring these things.  To my amazement she and my aunt had been discovering our roots.

I was stunned and so excited, I tried to begin a family tree over the summer last year and didn't get very far and kind of forgot to ask my mom for help with relatives names.

They had found a family tree going back 7 generations (my cousin and I  - although I am not on it being the 7th) which considering I have a little one we can trace back 8 generations just on my maternal grandfathers side.  So I thought that all of this was super cool, but it didnt stop there.

The Widow then started showing me more articles that they had found...all the way to the ship manifest from March 17th 1913 when my Great-Grandfather came in to United States from a ship that landed in Nova Scotia from Liverpool where he had come from Finland where he was born. 

I was stunned and amazed, I was moved to tears to see so many things about my family, names I never knew, places that our family was from that I never knew...like North Carolina (I had no idea!)  I had known about Missouri, but never North Carolina and Kentucky...CRAZINESS!!

And in retrospect of last night my wanting to be a better family and feeling like I need to take the initative to get the family ball rolling...or start climbing the tree so that I can build the tree house I think this is a wonderful place to start.  Especially since the cousin that I ran into last night is one of cousins on my dad's side.  My dad passed away when I was a child and since then the eventual demise of the family connections with that side of the family has begun...well the time has come to put a stop to that! 

I am simply overcome with emotion as to what has occured in the last two days in terms of family things.  First I see a cousin whom I have not seen in Y E A R S...and then I find that my mother has dug through the vast expanses of the internet to find members of family that I only dreamed existed...now ones that I could see the proof.  Census' of years gone by documenting family life from when my Grandmother was a 4 year old with Finnish parents and a Finnish Grandmother in Minnesota.  Records of days gone by, records of people without whom I would not be here.

I believe that the universe read my blog and heard my thoughts for being a better member of my family and I believe that the door has been opened.  Thank you. 

Well I must depart for the time being but I leave you with with happy ideas of family, mine, yours and all of ours.  Exploring where you come from is a fascinating and enthralling experience and I think you all take...

Happy Reading!