Have you ever given thought to what will happen to all the mountains of
research after you are no longer,"guardian of the files"?
There are I grant you several options -at the same time there are many
problems with each one:
1.Children--Which one? many times there seems to be no real interest on the
part of any of your children.
2.Grandchildren--This is great, but if they are very young now, who knows if
this will be of interest to them later.
3.Library/Archival Holdings--This would be a useful thing to do, which one?
what family line?
From my personal point of view, which is really all I can give you
right
now--
Even though, I know it wasn't really the way it was, it seems as if during
my childhood I was drug into and walked through every cemetery in about 3
states, mostly Indiana. Didn't seem to have any real connection to me, these
people had been dead quite some time. At ages 10-14 you always seem to have
many more important things to do then walk through cemeteries, especially on
vacation.
Then there were the libraries, and the xerox machines.
This was a little more interesting, although not much.
Due to dire family illness, the genealogy was shelved for years, I married,
had children and divorced.
Then...I got it, the "bug".
I knew it was there and I could get it at anytime, but really didn't think I
would.
There are no known vaccines for it, no instant cures, and to my knowledge no
telethons raising money to cure the "bug".
I started researching, now I could better comprehend the desire to roam the
cemeteries, hang out at the libraries, talk in that strange language of:
census,immigration, ship lists,I had to read obituaries,possibilities,
speculations.
My children (grown now) find it strange that mom actually not only takes
photos of gravestones, she SAVES them.
I find it odd that sometimes I can, given a name, regardless of time frame
have recall of parents,dates,deaths. But bring me to the present and well,
you all know......
What does this all have to do with who to leave your files to?
Don't always assume that your children WON'T be interested at a future date.
When I got the "bug" nobody had been prodding me it just "happened".
I have three children. One would like the info,although as he puts it "you
already have everything done, but I'd like to read it".
One thinks its neat, but I can tell "really" doesn't want control of it.
Then, there is the other child..
Most recently he has decided to borrow my familytreemaker and install it. He
has asked for help and suggestions, he doesn't always have time to "get into
it", BUT the "bug" is there, he has been bitten or he wouldn't be at
the
point he is.
It is I grant you a tough decision as to who to leave the info to.
I would like to make a copy for each of the children and for the
grandchildren.
But that still isn't the same as who will carry on the search. I would hate
to see all the research just be read and not furthered.
Of course you may all have comtemporaries who are also working on the family
history and you feel that they understand the importance and the value of
the research.
But, of course you realize especially if they are older that in most
likelihood they will be gone before you are.
For me, the library is not an option as I don't wish for it to just sit
there. I want it furthered.
My suggestion, for what it is worth--
Look to the child of yours who had the most questions growing up, was the
most curious, never could quite accept the reasoning "just because".The one
who always dug just a little further into the why,how and where then all the
other children in the area.
My bet is this will be the child who later, has that desire to know. Who
won't accept, "it was because it was."
Everyone who is researching knows that it takes a certain amount of just not
being able to accept everything they are told.Sure leave a copy to your
grandchildren and to your children, but there is an inherent difference in a
copy of the family history and your files.
But then, as a final note, maybe I will be the first to have to have two
burial plots. One will be for me and the other will have a stone saying "Her
Files".
We all know true genealogists never reach the end, after all once you leave
this world, how are you going to ask all those questions,(wherever you are)
without your files..........
Debbie Jennings
debj(a)comsys.net
"Following the footprints through time"