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Family Reunions, Weddings, Funerals - Events that Celebrate the Past

Home » Genealogy » Sources for Genealogy Research - Family » Family Reunions, Weddings, Funerals - Events that Celebrate the Past
Posted by Your Guide on July 6, 2006 9:46 PM

Never skip a family event if you are interested in family history. You never know when a long lost relative will show up to get reacquainted. Relatives who are newly married always bring their new spouse to events and this can be your chance to get to know them. After all, the names, dates, and other data are trivial compared to the family relationship. If your family is large, it may be the only times when everyone is together and if your family is small, it may the only chance to celebrate the togetherness with everyone in attendance.

Family reunions are especially great for bringing loved ones together to celebrate your shared heritage. No one else knows you like your family and no one else will get all your jokes. Celebrate this closeness by attending every chance you get.

Bring a photo album of pictures from long ago and ask people to share their memories about the photos or people in them. If your family's reunion is one of those great big outdoor affairs, make photo copies of your scrapbook pages and bind them together in a separate album. Then, when little Ashley touches a picture and leaves a smudge, you won't feel the urge to run and tuck the album away in your suitcase. Your precious original photos are safe at home and you can feel generous about sharing these copies with others. You can even tuck a pen inside and allow people to write short notes around the pictures. This impromptu scribbling will become precious on its own over time.

Weddings and funerals are also rite of passage events during which families congregate. Skipping these family events will leave gaps in your family history as you document not only the past, but the present. Write in your journal after each event and make a note of those who attended. Write down who has a new baby or who is heading off to college next fall. A notation about a cousin who just got accepted to medical school or another who just passed the Bar Exam will be precious to their grandchildren one day and you will have preserved not only the event, but your memories of it as it happened.

As family history researchers, we are also the recorders of history in the making. Don't worry if you're not a great philosopher or writer. Just document events and your honest emotions about them and you will be creating historic documents for those to come. One word of caution, though. Don't get so caught up in documenting events in your family that you forget to be a part of them. Put the camera down, set aside the note pad and pencil and go sit out on the porch with your grandpa. You'll both be glad you did.



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