I'll start today with a submission I sent to Family Tree Magazine, *Hopefully* to be published in their, "The Lighter Side of Family History" section. (Winners get a $25 gift certificate to the store! I LOVE that magazine--I read it everyday on my lunch break :). It's a good way to start my blog with my roots in Genealogy :)
Graveyard Sleuth
I attribute my mother, Debbie Elliott Hill, for instilling in my not only a love for Family History, but also for teaching me the thrill of the hunt :) When I was six years old, my mom flew us back to Delaware to see family and dapple a little in her new found hobby: genealogy. To keep me out of her hair while searching a graveyard, she gave me a pen and paper, telling me to copy down the letters and numbers I saw on the tombstones, just like her. Happy to be doing anything she was doing, I excitedly wandered around the cemetery, copying down names and numbers I didn't really understand. Afterward, while heading home, my mom felt really discouraged because she had not been able to find the ancestor's grave she had been looking for. Imagine her excitement (and surprise!) when she looked down at my notebook, and in the midst of my child-like scribbles, she found the information of her ancestor! Somehow, in all innocence, I had found and copied down the very person she had come to find. Her enthusiasm in that moment impacted my young mind, leading to a life-long love for the "detective" work of genealogy.
I began doing my own research at age 16, going on to minor in Family History in college. I have now been an avid genealogist for the past 10 years. By far, my favorite mother-daughter bonding trips are still going back to Delaware to research together...and graveyards are still my favorite goldmine of information! :)
