Week 52: Resolution (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 52 is "Resolution." This time of year, many of us make plans for what we want to accomplish. Do you have a genealogy resolution -- maybe a brick wall you want to break through or a collection of letters you want to digitize? Register for 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Some people call them “Resolutions”, I like using the term goals. Actually, there isn’t much difference between a resolution and a goal. A resolution is making a firm decision to do something while a goal is the object of a person’s desired result.  So I guess a goal comes first and then we make a resolution to do it?

Anyway, I looked back on what I wrote about my Goals for 2024. I had five basic goals:

·         Participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks – achieved

·         Do a daily genealogy tip post on my other blog “Out on a Limb Genealogy” – achieved

·         Finish the Jones Book for my sister-in-law’s cousin – achieved

·         Continue the Goodwin Descendant Project – achieved

·         Clean up my paper files – not achieved

I did not achieve my last goal because let’s be honest, it’s boring. However, this past year has been a rough one for my personal life. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with Stage IV Bone Cancer on January 17^th and lost her battle on July 8^th. Also, one of my intellectually disabled sisters was diagnosed with Stage II Pancreatic Cancer in early April.  I am her caregiver in the sense that I manager her finances, pay her bills, buy all her groceries, take her to her appointments.  Thus, I ended up spending many days in the Cancer Center as she received her treatments. She had two surgeries this year and thus I ended up spending my days in the hospital with her. I also have another intellectually disabled sister who I had to make sure was also taken care of. My two sisters are roommates. Anyway, I decided that I would drop the fifth goal for this year.

Thus, looking forward to the new year I have some similar goals as last year:

·         Participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – this project gives me a chance to review my research and discover things I might have overlooked.

·         Continue the Goodwin Descendant Project and create a book – I have already ran a first draft of my book and now I am currently reviewing it for big missing gaps of information.

·         Clean up my paper and computer files – I just need to bite the bullet and do this. I am getting up in years and I don’t want to leave an unorganized mess for my children. If I don’t start, it won’t ever get finished. I need to spend at least four hours a week doing this project.

·         OPTIONAL – I also have inherited a huge slide collection from my father. I need to scan the slides. I am hoping to get a new slide scanner that will make the project a little more enjoyable. However, the paper files really have a higher priority, thus only after I have spent four hours doing the file organization project, will I even consider doing the slide project.

·         Continue with DNA identification – I need to slowly go through my DNA matches, using the new Ancestry ProTools to figure out who my matches are and input them into my tree. I can do this project using my laptop at night while watching TV.

How did you do this past year? What are some of your goals or resolutions for 2025?

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

December’s Theme and Week 49: Handed Down (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 49 is "Handed Down." Do you have something that has been handed down to you, whether it's an item, a story, or even a name? This week is a good time to write about it! Check out all the2024 prompts.

Traditions are also handed down. My family’s Christmas Eve Tradition that was handed down started the second year my parents were married. My dad married my mom, a widow with six children. My dad was so looking forward to that first Christmas Morning, watching the all the kids open their gifts. However, that is not exactly what happened.

On Christmas Day, my siblings quietly got up in the morning, something we always did on days off, because my mom likes to sleep in. They crept downstairs and quickly proceeded to open their gifts. By the time my father awoke, he found all the kids quietly playing with their gifts. Being so disappointed, he told my mother that from now on, they will be opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Thus, our tradition is having a wonderful dinner. After dinner, when the dishes have been cleared from the table and the adults and older children are washing dishes, by father gathers up all the little ones and we pile into the car (a station wagon). He would drive around and we would look at all the Christmas Lights. We drove through our town park which was decked with lights and had music playing. One of the downtown stores even had a small animated Christmas display of Santa’s workshop with elves busy making toys. I swear it felt like hours, but I loved looking at all the lights.

While we were out driving, Santa always managed to show up at our house to drop off the presents. Being the youngest of nine and becoming an aunt at seven, meant we had a full house and lots of Santa presents. I remember one Christmas where our huge living room had presents that took up half the room. I didn’t really notice that it was because of the gaps between the gifts or that no gifts were stacked on top of other gifts. Another Christmas my eldest brother, who would always bring his children’s Santa gifts to my parents, had a bike waiting for my oldest niece. The joy that was on her face was priceless.

My parents moved to Arizona when my children were young, and thus, we didn’t spend many Christmases with my parents. Therefore, it was up to me to keep up with the traditions. I still love driving and seeing all the Christmas Lights. Sadly, it’s not like when I was a child, many people don’t bother putting out lights. The first time, I did this when I moved to Arizona to live nearer my parents, I found many sections were very unlit. Thus, I go out ahead of time and try to find the areas that have lights, so that I was not randomly driving around town and not finding anything.

My children are grown, but just like me, my youngest daughter and I still love the tradition. My other children and my almost grown-up grandchild, humor us and accompany us on our drive. It was always my husband’s job to get the hidden presents and put them under the tree.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!