Genealogy first caught my interest in February. As I discovered more and more facts about my ancestors, I was struck by the absence of information about their actual lives. My ancestors, and yours, were more than just census data. They lived, they loved, and they were forgotten.
This made me realize how little I know about my own family, even about my parents. And they're gone, and in two generations they will be forgotten unless I can document their lives. And I can't. Because I don't know their lives.
With tears from my heart, I beseech all of you to document your lives NOW. Write your memoirs, write a list of life events, write memories and anecdotes. Include any memories of your ancestors that you have. If this seems too big a job, talk aimlessly (but loudly) into a tape recorder; including as much date and place information as possible.
You think your children know all these things, but they don't. And your grandchildren and great-grandchildren certainly don't and probably never will unless you ACT.
Even if you're young, you probably have memories and anecdotes of your grandparents (and even parents and siblings) that you can document now; in twenty years, those memories will almost surely be gone.
You may think it's not important to document your life. You may think, "Well, I wasn't in the military, I had menial jobs; my life was just normal and boring...and my kids have lots of pictures to remember me by." Do your pictures have dates on them and the names of the people in them? Are your digital pictures similarly identified and backed up?
"Besides, I'm young, I have lots of time." We are not guaranteed tomorrow! If any of you have lost a loved one who was a child or who was a young adult in the prime of their life, then you know how fragile life is. Don't wait to document yours! God put you on this earth for a reason, and your journey should be remembered, not just your statistics! And it's all up to you.
Even if you are a dead-end branch on your family tree, as I am, your journey is still important. Even if you believe, as I do, that the Rapture is near, your journey is still important.
In seven generations, someone should be able to say, "I remember you!"
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