When I started Genealogical Research, I inherited several different hobbies. The first hobby was to find ancestors and the places they lived their lives and died. Which was not usually the same place. Little by little I inherited the richness of my ancestors lives with stories found in books or online. Interesting tidbits of history and putting ancestors lives on a timeline. You could trace why someone did something, by what was going on in the world.

I was online so much, people found me. "Are you still looking for" and they would mention a surname in my family tree. It was this way I found a bottle with an ancestors name and place they lived in Bohemia on the bottle. A black handhewn trunk also found its way home to me from a person on the internet.

I have done dna and found several live cousins that way. I have shared information with people and they have shared their pictures with me. So now I have censuses, a family tree made by a family of cousins in Canada, and pictures of my amcestors that I never thought I would be able to see. It is a treasured collection of the people that made up my history and background.

I have an egg cup my grandpa had his eggs from everyday and a cabinet full of memories in the shape of crystal bowls, a Bible that an ancestor had lettered in gold with his daughters name. Lulu born in 1877. I am amazed by my collection of books from the Beede/Beedy branch. With god given luck I have received some of these books from the descendents of ancestors. They have written the back story of a book of poems or left me a note from where and who the book was from.

I never knew that this would be possible. To have information at my fingertips at any time day or night. To have the capability of contacting descendants of my ancestors in Dublin, Canada, New Zealand, and all over the US with a push of a send button on the bottom of an email. It has been a great experience. If you have the time and the inclination, it is a good hobby to pick up. I cannot imagine anyone ever being disappointed in the pursuit of ancestors.

Now is the time where the world is at your fingertips. I can think of nothing so fulfilling as to surf the web finding the secrets of the past. I have a much better understanding of where my family has come from and how it has influenced my life.