Thursday, December 30, 2010

New Year's Resolutions 2011

It's  time to  review the past year and make resolutions for the new one. Now, I know my resolutions may very well be broken by the middle of January, but until then, these are my goals for 2011.

1.  I vow to devote one full day each week to filing the stacks of paper on my desk, on the floor and around the computer. If not accomplished, I'll simply sweep everything into the round file and start new stacks.

2.  I promise - really, I do - not to laugh when someone talks about their ancestor who was a Cherokee princess and was left by the side of the road as they traveled the Trail of Tears in Kentucky. I won't even giggle when they say they know she was Native American because she had high cheek bones and "looked like an Indian."

3.  I swear I will take the time to follow each lead, each clue and each hint in solving the mystery of my ancestors who never owned land, never married or had children, left no wills,  and had no parents or tombstones. If you can tell me how to do this, please inform me right away. In fact, would you write a book about it?  It is sure to be a bestseller.

4.  I intend to devote one day a week sorting the photos that have been resting undisturbed in a shoebox for 50 years. No matter that the people and places are not identified; I'll just write something  on them and let the next generation of genealogists sort them out.

5.  I will not poke fun at the novice genealogist who enthusiastically tells me that her whole lineage is online. No matter that sources are not given; it must surely be right because it's online - Right?

Finally, a friendly tip from this old genealogist. If you work ten years on a line and find out you have been following the wrong people (as I did on my Flood family), chalk it up to "taking a detour, but look how much I learned." 

Happy New Year!


Copyright on text and photographs
by Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG
Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog
http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com

6 comments:

PalmsRV said...

Some of my relatives want me to identify the "Cherokee princess" in our family but so far my research has disappointed them! Why let facts get in the way of a good family narrative. In fairness to them, there is one long shot in the family tree. Giggle.

Greta Koehl said...

So glad to see that someone can keep tongue in check in listing their resolutions - it brought a smile to my face! (But now I feel like such a wet rag for telling my relatives that our "part-Indian" great-grandmother looks very Scots-Irish to me.)

Brenda Joyce Jerome said...

I think we genealogists sometimes take ourselves much too seriously. Good luck breaking the news to your relatives!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Love your list. I'll second numbers 1,2 and 5!

Mavis said...

I love your list especially #5. Reminds me of all the friends who are always asking "Have you tried looking on Ancestry?"

Kim said...

Does this mean my already filled out tree back to Charlemagne(?) could have a few errors? And my Indian relatives are from a princess? I thought a palm reader who read tarot cards was the answer to #3.

I would write more, but the collectors are here and I must empty my round stacks for more room. Til later!