Tonia Kendrick over at her blog, Tonia's Roots, has kicked off Week 1 of 31 Weeks of Better Genealogy Blogging with the challenge of writing an Elevator Pitch for your blog.
Here's my Elevator Pitch:
Having been blessed with ancestors who saved everything, I originally created The Turning of Generations blog to share what I've learned while sorting through the contents of the family home. I particularly enjoy piecing stories together starting with what was discovered at home (the exciting part), coming up with questions about the heirloom or document (usually the fun and easy part), and then researching other records to find the answers (the challenging but very rewarding part).
© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum
© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum
I love this, Michelle. I think you've really captured what makes your blog unique.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know exactly WHEN you decided you were "blessed" with ancestors who kept everything. My children are approximately your age and they are horrified that I won't clean out all my "junk" before I die.
ReplyDeleteThey have no interest in genealogy or the mountains of documents and data I have "lovingly" preserved for at least 6 generations back. I want them to feel "blessed" someday too.
(Whine)
Anonymous, I'm not exactly sure exactly WHEN I decided I was blessed but opening old boxes and seeing REALLY cool things did it for me.
ReplyDeleteI do my fair share of whining too. As in WHY did they feel the need to keep THIS???
Ok.. now I "see the light!" My children would stop at the "sorting stage", assess it's monetary value, and in 99% of cases involving paper, (which was not currency) discard it.
ReplyDeleteI will now embark on the journey of romancing my grandchildren with the love of genealogy, the preservation of information, and the compiling of "stories" I have stored in my head and heart. My mother's daily journals she kept for 40 years will be an inspiration for one of them.
I can only hope. ;-)
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI'll visit Tonia's blog and develop my own elevator pitch too. You and I are in the same boat! So much was saved--but most of the notes left and letters and diaries of my grandparents & their friends are in an unreadable German script--as you've seen at my blog. So the challenge is to find out just what the note says -- and then I can determine why. I recently found a restaurant business card. Why was this saved for a century? After getting it deciphered by a 90 year old who can read the old writing, I discovered its importance! I'll be writing about it in the next couple of weeks, but I had to stop by and empathize with you and your collection (blessed or cursed?, I sometimes ponder of my troves) and join in the fun of an elevator speech. Anonymous-- I have the same issue with the kids -- so I'm going for donating it to a research library.
Anonymous - That is the tact I am taking with my children. Romancing them. I think I am making inroads with the oldest. This is the one who decided, while sitting in her ancestor's cemetery, that she would like to go to college in that town. It was pleasant, beautiful and it spoke to her....go figure.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I so feel your pain with the old German script. I have a few of those too but did find someone who could translate them.
ReplyDeleteMost of the letters I have that are not in English are in French though. Still it's a problem since I never learned French.
Thanks for commiserating with me. Most of the time I feel blessed but there are many moments when I feel otherwise...
I can see the dilemma of having too many treasures but oh, to have that problem!
ReplyDelete