Family Tree Tracing

One of my favorite movies of all time is a simple, heartwarming film called “Sweet Land.” I discovered it on Netflix one day when I was home alone and cleaning the house. And let me tell you – little housework got done that afternoon. As soon as I realized that the movie was about an elderly couple’s love story and the legacy they left behind, I was hooked. I plopped down into a chair, mesmerized, and I laughed and cried along with the family in the movie as I traveled back in time with them to relive how their grandparents first met.

“Let us hope that we are preceded in this world by a love story.”

I won’t give away many details of the story, but I have to say, it was absolutely precious. There is a rich, raw love story woven into the family’s heritage and “Sweet Land” has since become one of my very favorite movies!

What’s so special is that we’ve ALL got a love story of some sort in our family tree – some of them very obvious in our lives now, some of them relatives that we’ve never met but have only heard of.

I’ve had an obsession with genealogy and our family tree ever since I was in middle school. My grandpa, who passed away when I was 10, left us his heavily-researched binders of detailed documents and stories of our ancestors. My grandma added her own research and knowledge to those. I spent countless hours poring over these records, deciphering cursive handwriting, and filling in the gaps when I discovered a missing birthdate or middle name! I loved the game – the puzzle – that it was for me; and our family tree, which I had drawn on a large piece of white paper, slowly grew and grew!

Fast forward to my college years. I misplaced that giant paper with the family tree on it and I was heartbroken. It was missing for several years until my mom recently found it in my “keeping box” a month ago!!!

Now, the genealogy journey can continue. My husband’s got an entire family tree of his own that I can now (excitedly!) add to mine! But the point of all of this is not simply “filling in the blanks” – it’s deep, thought-provoking study of those we come from, with an emphasis on the thought What kind of a legacy do we want to leave future generations?? Now, THAT is the true beauty of studying your family tree.

Do you have a passion for tracing your family tree? In what ways do you love discovering your own heritage?