In The beginning...

People will often ask me how I got started helping people with their family history. Most of the time this is not an interesting story. I had to sit down and think of a better answer than what I was giving.  Thinking is rough! 
It took some digging in the inner recesses of my mind and heart. While I was interested in researching my own family at first because of my grandmother and my great aunts, It really came down to one thing that happened shortly after I was first married. 

My father-in-law at the time had not been raised by his parents. He was raised by his grandparents. He did not know a good portion of his family until well after adulthood. He had some missing pieces in his family that he desperately wanted to know about. I was determined to help him get those answers. 

This began when we were all heading to a family reunion in Oklahoma. While they were visiting with some family, I made a trip into a research center armed with just some basic names. I searched for hours. When the day was done and they picked me up, I was not only overwhelmed with information, but I had found some key pieces of evidence that opened up a whole world for him. 

We located unmarked graves of his other grandparents and great grandparent, and we discovered a good deal of stuff that furthered finding all his family tree. 
It was exciting, satisfying and rewarding.  I made it a priority to help him. The reward was seeing him filled with pride and knowledge. 

For me, helping people is the reward. I've decided that I am subscribing to the "what it is worth to you" investment for research. It seems that the interest in finding family history is out there. - That's evident from the 200 people signed up for a genealogy class and a waiting list a mile long for a second class.  I've truly enjoyed my Adventures in Genealogy! I look forward to growing and expanding in the future!  

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