Why?

People ask me it all the time…

“Why do you do genealogy? You’re so young. It’s for retirees and spinsters.”

In fact, one time I went out to a remote cemetery in between corn fields in Watson, Allegan, Michigan and was on my way home on M-222 going about 45 in a 55 when I got pulled over. The officer looked at my license and asked what I was doing out there (I was about 50 minutes away from home) and I told him that I had been out at the Hick’s Cemetery because I do genealogy and have ancestors buried there. “Really? Wow, my mom does genealogy she’s 70,” and then he thanked me for being “a good kid” and let me go on my way.

When I began researching my family it was honestly mainly only because of pure nosyness. I wanted answers to my questions, the ones I was afraid to ask because they might be too painful or too embarrassing. I saw that my questions about my mamau’s mother who died of TB at 23, about my grandmother’s father that committed suicide, and about my paternal grandfather’s family were too painful. In a way, I suppose they all did the best they could answering them but it was undeniably hard and I felt rude asking.

Above: A graphic I made in a photography class in 2012 using old family photos, which won me a Scholastic Gold Key Award that year.

Once I began looking at records, I couldn’t stop. I loved all the answers and I found myself hungry for more. I found the death certificate of my great grandmother that died of TB. I found the grave of my great grandfather who had killed himself in 1964. And I found the death certificates of my great aunt and uncle on my paternal grandfather’s side who had both perished in a house fire.

Eventually, I realized that in researching the lives of these people I was doing much more than answering my own questions, I was keeping the memory of these people alive. I was illustrating all these details of their lives and helping our family understand more about who we come from. This is even more noticeable with the discovery of newspaper records pertaining to the family. Now I know what the personalities and behaviors of these people were like.

So I guess if you want a simple answer to why I do genealogy; I’m nosey. But if you want a deeper, more sentimental answer; it’s because researching the lives of my ancestors is so humbling. I may not be related to a president or royalty, but I am related to hard working people who stayed strong and faced many hardships. If it hadn’t been for them going through all the things they did, I wouldn’t be here. All their heartache and hardship led to me, and keeping their memory alive for a little longer is my way of paying them back.

“I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time” -Banksy