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From: "Wendy J. Lucas" <>
Subject: [ELLER-L] FW: Why Genealogy?
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 21:39:11 -0500

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From: "Wendy J. Lucas" <>
To:
Subject: Why Genealogy?
Date: Thu, Oct 22, 1998, 9:28 PM

How I got started in Genealogy?

In 1993 my grandmother was diagnosed with bone cancer. This had an awesome
effect on me. I started thinking about all the important days of my life she
would miss. Being a 24-year-old single woman, my first thought was she
would miss my wedding day, the birth of my children and all those things
that follow.

Ironically, my search started for husband preferably not related. I tried
dating services and personal ads. All the time, keeping my grandmother as
my confidant. I'm sure I worried her, but I don't think she really figured
out why I was searching so intensely. As the time passed and she became
more ill, I resolved to asking questions about my family. The people who
made me who I am by making my parents and grandparents who they are.

The questions became the beginning of an even better hunt for where they
came from. This search not only made my relationship with my grandmother
more endearing, but it also drew me closer to my grandfather. He was
somewhat of a loner and really never was too trusting of anyone, but we
became very close. In fact in 1995 when my grandmother's struggle with bone
cancer had raged its final battle, we were a great comfort to one another.

After the services my grandfather offered me my grandmother's wedding ring,
at first I declined in a teary blur because her ring was "until death do you
part". But on the insistence of my grandmother's two best friends I took
the ring. Last January, we started a new tradition when I asked my cousin
to wear the ring in her wedding. She did, and in a way I felt my
grandmother's presence. Life and death are very mysterious things.

Two years later, a sudden bout (less than 60 days) with lung cancer took my
pa. Shortly before he discovered his sickness, he surprised me with a
handwritten summary of his life story.

I'm still single, but very happy. Most of my friends can't understand why
someone my age is traipsing through cemeteries and milling around libraries
on the weekend. But every now and then, I'll find something really great and
I'll think to myself grandma and grandpa would've loved this. And sometimes
I think I feel them peering over my shoulder, reminding me of something I
may have overlooked at first glance that would lead me to more buried family
treasures.

This thread:

• [ELLER-L] FW: Why Genealogy? by "Wendy J. Lucas" <>