Sun 12/20/2020 12:51 AM
Beth,
This letter was such a hit with me because Pam and I have dozens of annual letters that I have preserved as life stories for the MyCousins Family Tree.
A letter has often accompanied either the annual Christmas or the New Year’s greeting card in our family. For decades we were faithful and did one or the other, sometimes both. For the last decade, we have thought ourselves too busy, and the practice stopped. Pam and I need to revisit this. She often wrote the first draft, and I would add embellishments. It has been fun to do.
Pam was surprised that I found my letter to Jeff. But, if she is a packrat when it comes to the house, I am a kindred spirit when it comes to my computer. I save everything, and I’m constantly reorganizing. I have two 8 terabyte hard drives in use, and one is a backup. I also have several drives as offsite storage in case of a disaster.
Relating all this to our ancestry research, I was reflecting on our responsibilities as genealogists. We need to do 5 things with our family history: preserve, identify, organize, analyze, and share. It is helpful to step back occasionally and ask, “what am I doing in each of these areas.” You and I have a pretty good record. Encouraging others is the one area where I feel the need for improvement. Our eBook will help. At least, I hope so.
John, IV