Eight years ago today, my life changed. Below is a memory that popped up on my Facebook this morning. It's hard to believe it's been that long now, but on this day eight years ago, I got a taste of genealogy research and it wasn't long before I became an addict!
We had just moved back to St. Louis the year before this all happened and I was spending some time with my grandma, Ruth Wheeler. Grandma's health was not the best, but it would be three years before she passed, so during that time, she started talking to me about her life. Just a little bit here and there. I asked a few questions, she gave me a few answers. And that was it. Then mom told me that a few years before, Grandma gave her some boxes of photos to keep safe. She said she thought no one wanted them, so she said to give them to me. She knew I loved photos. Seriously, I used to have my bedroom covered photos of me and my friends.
At first glance in the boxes, I was excited and mortified. All the photos were just thrown into them all haphazardly; no rhyme or reason. Some were bent, some were water damaged, some were torn. I was just shocked! So I began the process that night of going through them just to see what all was in them. I never expected to find all that I did. I don't think I got any sleep either that night
I recognized a few faces in the photos as my mom, my uncles, my grandma, and grandpa, but there were many photos of people I did not recognize. I had never seen these photos before. There were pictures of my mom when she was little and my grandma with black hair. Black? I've only seen pictures of her with grey hair! Then pictures of my grandma when she was little started popping up as well! How old are these?? My grandma was born in 1920 so these were at least from that time. Oh my gosh, what treasures!
Then came the photos of people I knew nothing about. Mom told me some information and I quickly got lost. Especially when it came to talking about the Wheeler side of the family. And the unfortunate thing was most of these photos were unnamed and undated. I knew I had to organize these in some way shape or form. And the only way I knew to try to organize who everyone was and how we were related was to start a family tree on Ancestry. Which I did the day after I posted that status above.
I created my account on Ancestry on Oct 12, 2012, and started my first tree. I plugged in my parents, then my grandparents and great-grandparents. Mostly just to organize everyone and get a visual of how we were related. Then it happened. I got my first shakey leaf. What is that? I clicked on it and low and behold, there was a census record for my grandma. The 1940 Census. It had just been released, so it was free to view. Ok, so let's take a look at it. Oh my gosh, it's my grandma with her first husband and her parents AND my Uncle Jerry! All right in front of me on that census!
That was it. After that, I was hooked. After viewing that census, I wanted to know more. I wanted to see more. I wanted to find more. I got my free trial and went to work. Finding document after document. Tracing my grandma's family. Little did I know at that time, the secrets I would uncover or the skeletons I would let out of the closet.
Before my grandma died in 2015, I shared with her some of the information I had learned and even put her photos in an album for her and the other family to look at. I got some more interesting stories to add to my collection. Sometimes today I wish I could share more information with her that I have learned over the years, but I think she would flip with what I have found haha!
But yeah, eight years ago today, my genealogy addiction started. And it's an addiction I don't ever want to be cured of. This has become my passion. I have found something I love to do and something I am really good at. And the funny thing is, I've always hated history. But looking at original photos and documents that belonged to my family made history come alive. It wasn't just facts in a history book. It was real. Real stories. Real experiences. And those experiences shaped who they were and in turn who I became.
And it all began with just a couple boxes of photos...
What's your story? How did you get started in genealogy research? What got you interested in family research? Was it a story you were told? Was it photos like me? Or have you always been interested? Share it below!
Shared in memory of my grandma, Ruth Wheeler. She may not have been perfect, but she was my grandma and I loved her. Thank you for these photos, grandma. I love you and miss you!
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