History maintains its importance in all societies for many reasons. One important reason is to have a record of what occurred before, in order to learn and make choices in the future. But history is more than this. History provides important facts that can affect people now. History provides medical and health information that proves what worked or didn’t, before now. Of all the reasons that history remains, well, historical – perhaps the most simplistic is, just because it’s interesting. Families are interesting. People are interesting. Where someone came from and what they did with their life, is interesting. When we learn about others’ lives, somehow we grow.
These days you may have given some thought to what you want to leave your spouse, children, grandchildren. As the internet has opened up the flow of information, so have opportunities that simply didn’t exist before. Among all the ways people are leaving legacies for their lives, one opportunity remains too often, missed. You’ve most likely heard about websites that allow you to search for family historical records online. One of the reasons this has become big business across the world is because curators have been archiving historical records through the internet, which has allowed dots to be connected in family lineages. This documenting of the past is like filling in puzzle pieces, one at a time for a person searching for their heritage. Have you ever considered that your life and your history is part of a much bigger picture? You have a family lineage, with its own historical records. Everyone does, even those who are adopted. But have you ever thought of contributing to your personal history, and your family’s history – on historical record for future generations by using today’s technology to do this? This idea came to light upon searching for family lineage documents. The question arose, “Why can’t people contribute to a family file, while they are living? This would fill in many of the pieces of the puzzle that are often left unsolved, like wounds that can’t fully heal.” Family Historical Records and What You Can Discover Many of us are curious about how far back records could take us. We’re often curious to know just who was our great great great great great grandparents and when did they live? What did they do? Did they have any special talents like painting, music or business? Were there any illnesses in the genetic bloodline? Were there any special or hidden talents in the gene pool? Any notable accomplishments? Was anyone famous that you are connected to through blood? The list of interesting facts about where your family came from is unlimited. In this vein, why not make personal entries along the road of your life, so that others who live 100 or more years from now, will learn about their past that included you in it? If you’ve ever tried to put together a family tree, you are aware of how much work goes into this, especially when you want to go far back in your Ancestry. Imagine if your entire family heritage had written notes, saved journals, documents, artwork, music scores, letters, their mail, life stories, legal documents, more photographs, etc… that you could access. A hundred or more years ago, no one knew that computers were on the horizon, or maybe they would have been more diligent about saving and preserving information. It’s a different story today. You can make a difference to people you will never meet in person, but whom you will be connected by birth in the future. Imagine that! Imagine a daughter or son of your great great great grandchild, wanting to learn more about you – their great great great grandparent? What a gift it would be to have shared and stored some of your inner life, your talents, your strengths and even weaknesses, along with photos and other information. Imagine their surprise if they learned that you had a certain specific artistic talent, and they were born with the same thing? It might validate their talent and give them more motivation to pursue their dreams. It might make them feel a part of something bigger than themselves. It might help them to feel important in the life they were given, and proud of their heritage – because they know about it. What would you want to know? If given the opportunity to peek inside a whole history that starts with you, and works its way back maybe a Century or more, what would you most want to learn? Whatever your age, you have the opportunity to actually create your part in those records, about your living life. Why would you want to do this? For preservation and posterity sake. Your family lineage deserves to have your addition to its historical records, for your children or relatives that will live in the future. Wouldn’t it be interesting to leave some of the best nuggets of your life, in your own words – or in your own approved documents, as part of your family’s life story? We think so. There are several sites on the internet catering to archiving and retrieving family records, the most popular being Ancestry.com. There are family tree programs available, some are free, and other types of family heritage programs available. We suggest just searching for these programs and looking into what might work best for you. Adding your life to your family history is a brilliant way to preserve records for your future relatives; and they would thank you kindly; if they were born yet.
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AuthorWesley Anderson Archives
March 2020
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