Part
2
Last week my blog was a whole lot longer than usual but I figured now that
you’re housebound, you’ve got time to read.
I have seven additional ideas to work on since you can’t run down to
your local archive or call a library to access a record. Now is a wonderful opportunity to…
1.
Review what you have on that brick wall
ancestor. Take every scrap of evidence
and spread it out on your workspace. Now
arrange it in chronological order and study it.
Next arrange it by connections, such as every document that has the
spouse’s name, too. Do you see any
missing time frames? Maybe there was a
marriage certificate for 1842, a deed in the same county for 1852 but one of
the individuals isn’t mentioned in the 1860 U.S. Federal census but shows up
again in 1870. That’s a clue to figure out where the individual was in 1860 –
maybe they were ill and placed in a sanitarium, perhaps they were visiting an
adult child in another area, the person may have had to find work elsewhere or
attend the funeral of a family member. Not
sure where the person might have been? I
recommend reading my last blog article and doing item 3. After you do that …
2.
Take your time to synthesize the
information. Don’t rush – we aren’t
going anywhere for awhile. Let the
information just percolate in your brain.
Write down what you find odd or missing.
Now it’s time to…
3.
Do some exercise. Hubby and I now start our day with a beginner
yoga video we found on youtube.
Stretching and breathing will help your brain process the information so
give it a try. The workout may have made
you hungry so now think about…
4.
Family recipes.
My hubby’s birthday is coming up and I may have to dig up the family
Depression Cake recipe because I don’t know what ingredients will be available
at the grocery. That recipe makes me
think of other recipes that got my family through difficult times. When my grandparents were quarantined with
their young family because of a scarlet fever outbreak, she practiced social
distancing by speaking with her neighbors through their open windows. Reminds me of the people singing together on
the balconies in Italy or exercising in Spain.
In my family’s case, grandma got a great spaghetti sauce recipe from the
Italian neighbor and what we call corn meal mush, from the southern neighbor on
the other side of her home. That was
nearly 100 years ago. Think about the
legacy you’re leaving your descendants…
5.
Write down your experiences. I realize how
spoiled and privileged we are. I miss
going to restaurants the most. I only
recall both sets of my grandparents going to a restaurant once. My maternal grandparents, my mother and I
went with a neighbor to the Beach Café in Miller, Indiana when I was about 6
years old to get perch on a Friday night during Lent. Mr. Bauer had just become a widow and missed
going to the café with his wife so my family joined him. I didn’t know then that he had been a
character witness 20 years earlier for my grandparents so they could become
citizens. My paternal grandparents, my
parents and I went to a diner in Hobart, Indiana when I was about 3 years
old. I have no idea why we only went
once or why we went there but I recall there were other people with us so I
suspect visiting relatives must have come to town. They ordered a large pizza and to me, it
looked disgusting so I refused to eat it.
I ended up getting the chicken drumstick child’s dinner. My dad bought me a plastic rocket that came
apart in three pieces – it was the Cold War and we were going to beat those
Russians. That was 60 years ago. Those are my memories of dining out – now
write yours and if you get stuck…
6.
Ask an older relative about their
recollections. Now is the time to
connect so give them a call, email, Skype or even write a snail mail
letter. I wish I had thought to ask my
grandparents about the 1919 Influenza pandemic.
I know my grandfather and great grandfather both got it in January; my
grandmother blamed their resistance being shot to working the night shift at
U.S. Steel and riding their bikes home in the cold rain. My grandfather got over it quickly; my great
grandfather died. He had been known to
have asthma and epilepsy and the flu turned into pneumonia. I have the funeral photo with no social
distancing practiced. I know how the
family coped – my grandmother took in borders to help pay the bills now that
half the money was gone. What I don’t
know is how they prepared for the epidemic.
Perhaps they never did. The
family raised chickens and rabbits and canned their garden vegetables. I really wish I had asked more questions. If you aren’t able to connect with an older
generation because you are the older generation then…
7.
Reach out to those your DNA says are
family. Sure, you tried that before but
they didn’t respond. Well, try, try
again because they’re probably home now, too, and just might have time to
respond to you.
Remember, Shakespeare and Newton did their best work during
a pandemic. Keep up your spirits by
thinking about how your ancestors handled adversity. Let them serve as a model for you.
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