A Word About Family History from Liisa Smith

Well, I asked Sarah D’Evegnee if it would be okay if I contributed to the RS blog once in a while about….yes, don’t be scared, I’ll type it out…FAMILY HISTORY!!! Sarah thought it would be fine. Please don’t be frighten of the above two words, I will try to make it easier to read about. First, let’s consider the words “family” and “history”. “Family” will be defined as, “the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their own or adopted children; also, any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family”. I believe most of us fit in that definition somewhere. If you don’t believe you do, please let me know, and we’ll work out something. “History” will be defined as, “events of the past”, even if the event is only one second old. Let’s put these two definitions together and we can define “Family History” as “any past event of a traditional family or the equivalent of the traditional family”. Now, that’s not too bad, is it? When you think about it Family History can be about anything that has occurred to you or to any member of your family. It can be something as grand as a birth, marriage, birthday, graduation, etc. Or as mundane as a grocery list. Now, I can assure you that you are involved already in some form of Family History. Some of you will be involved in “scrapbooking”, some of you will be keeping a journal, some of you will be writing or e-mailing letters to family or friends, some of you will be taking photos of family, friends, events, etc., some of you will be involved in doing genealogy (oh, that dreaded word), and so on. If we truly define Family History, it is “the recording of any past event of a family or family member”, anything that has a hard copy, such as a piece of paper, a photograph, etc. Or that has an electronic backup in a secure place. If you were to e-mail a letter to a family member or family, printed out that e-mail, and put it in a file or binder you are doing Family History! Some of you are probably thinking it can’t be that easy. Well, it is!! If it fits the definition above, it is Family History. I’m going to challenge you to think outside the box. Think of the definition above and see what you are doing to create FAMILY HISTORY.



Chris Leishman and myself, Liisa K. Smith are the Ward’s Family History Consultants. Please feel free to come and talk to us about Family History. We are involved in the above and can answer your questions about genealogy (oh, that quilt ridden word). Take care and keep up the good work.