My Family Tree

Last weeks blog about a famous ancestor got me wanting to do more research- this time on my whole family line.  I originally started with my mom's side of the family.  Searching through census reports from the US I was able to trace back to around the 1820s (which is quite strange because I was always told that they came over from Ireland many years later).  Perhaps the research was a bit off or I followed the wrong line.  The hard part of this is trying to find people with their maiden name when you don't know what it is to begin with.

So hitting a dead end I decided to follow my German side.  Surprisingly I was able to go back to the year they immigrate to the US in 1902 (from Canada of all places).  Apparently my great great grandfaster moved from Hanover Germany to Canada, got married and later moved across the border to Michigan.  Just knowing the original city in Germany was enough to get me excited about all of the research.  But this got me thinking more about my present family and how distant I really am from my other relatives.

It's funny how we grow up and lose touch with those we were once around every day.  I haven't been in contact with my older brother in who knows how long and actually there's no real reason for it.  Not to mention I have a few nephews and nieces in which I have never seen in person much less talked to.  I guess this goes back to my childhood when my dad hermitted himself from the rest of his family (for whatever reason).  I'm not saying I am doing the same only that I never really knew my cousins that much growing up either.

I just keep thinking that there is a whole side of my family that I never knew and I sincerely hope that my children don't follow in the same footsteps.  I guess the one main difference is that my parents got divorced a long time ago making family reunions a bit strange as I stayed around my mother while my brother took my dad in.  I have a feeling that I blame my dad for this seperation.  Mmmm, something I never really thought of before (I'll have to explore that more later). 

The point is, life is too short and family is too important to not keep in touch with.  Because in the end it's them that make up who you are and have an investment on how you will most likely be in the future.