This morning I had to go see the manager of my
apartment building (unfortunately I wrote the wrong date on my rent cheque and
had to bring her a replacement). She
invited me in for a few minutes, which turned into an hour.
This
is a woman who likes to talk, and while there are times you can’t shut me up, there are
also times when I’m not really in the mood
to hold a conversation with people. I had
hoped this would be a quick visit – I’d drop my cheque off, get the receipt, make a bit
of casual conversation, and then leave.
It didn’t turn out that way.
The
building manager (I’ll call her P) proceeded
to tell me how she had hurt her knee and arm recently, and I mentioned about my
sciatica bothering me over the Christmas break.
This then led to a discussion on how she (and her husband) ended up
coming back to manage this apartment building (and another one or two).
During
the time I had mentioned about my sciatica, I had told her about being in
Australia a few years ago and having done something to cause it to flare
up. Our conversation then turned to her
mentioning a
cousin from Australia that she was going to be meeting for
the first time in May, and how she had discovered this cousin.
For the rest of the time I was there
(the conversation about our injuries might have taken about five minutes), we
discussed genealogy. I have been
interested in genealogy (researching your family tree) since I was about 16.
P told me about all the research she had
done (she is legitimately related to royalty, and both Princess Di and Camilla,
and has aristocracy in her roots as well), especially after being in contact
with a distant relative from Australia (a different cousin). She’s done
loads of research, contacted various archives from different countries, been
put into contact with people who could help, and has been given lots of
information from others. It sure sounded
like she has done extensive research!
She also told me that she helps other people with research and she’d
be willing to help me (or point me in the right direction) if I wanted it. I’m not
totally sure, but I would think she’d charge a
fee for her research services.
P and I discussed how important it is to
remember our past – who and where we came from – and the details. She had told me how her mother had always
wanted to write a book about her life story (and from what I was told, it would
definitely be an interesting read), and now P is thinking about writing it – or
some about her mother, but more so about her grandmother or great-grandmother.
P mentioned that she has been trying to
write things down in the evenings (stories and research), but she finds that
she gets tired very easily and ends up not accomplishing much. She wants to record everything for her
children and grandchildren, and thought making a book out of all her
information would probably be wise. I
suggested that maybe she could record things on one of those little hand held
tape recorders and then when she’s not
feeling tired or has the time, she could then transcribe it, or have someone do
it for her. She said she hadn’t
thought about that, but it was a great idea and she might just try it.
Since talking with P a couple of hours
ago, I have also been thinking about doing more research on my own family
tree. I have a lot, but it’s
all back home in New Brunswick. My
ancestors don’t
have an exciting background, or as interesting stories as the ones P told me
about her relatives, but that doesn’t
matter. Just because one of my ancestors
was the first shoemaker on Prince Edward Island and not a duke or lord, doesn’t
make him any less significant. Everyone is important; every story is important,
and I want to have a record of them.
The Bible does say in Titus to “…avoid
foolish controversies and genealogies…” (3:9), but
I don’t
think it’s
meaning that we shouldn’t
be involved in working on our family tree (after all, Jesus’
own genealogy is recorded in the New Testament twice). I think this verse is dealing with deception. My study Bible has a cross-reference to 2
Timothy 3:13 which talks about evil men and impostors deceiving people. So, maybe these men, the impostors, were
showing genealogies to try and make people think they were important, or
someone they were not. So, I don’t
think it goes against Scripture when you do your family tree.
Anyway, I think it’s
important to record information (names, dates) and stories about ourselves, our
ancestors, and family members, for future generations. Unfortunately, I don’t
have any kids of my own (which makes me sad, but that’s
another story), but I do have a nephew.
I do have cousins who have children.
And one day, one (or more) of them may have an interest and would like
to read about their family history.
Right now, I’m
in the mood to work on my family tree. I
sure wish I had my information here now.
Oh well, it will probably have to wait until the summer. I’ll have to
look for it when I go back as I’m not sure where it got
placed – especially the computer program I had used to record the bulk of my
information! I just hope it hasn’t
been lost. I’d
hate to have to start from scratch again.
