Family History is a fascinating hobby. It is like a vast puzzle that is never completely solved. Still, one bit of information leads to another, and it becomes exhilarating when you find a book or a record on the Web on one of the family lines that tie in with your current tree and gives you names, dates, and places for several generations.

Family History is not just about putting names and dates on a chart or looking to see if you are related to someone famous and influential. Our ancestors are our great, great … grandparents. They were genuine people who lived interesting lives. They worked and struggled to better the world for their children, their children's children, and us. We are their legacy. We are who we are, and we are here because of them.

While most of the details of their lives have disappeared in the mists of time, most of our ancestors left footprints in history. We know, or can learn, some things about them and what they did, we know some things about the environment in which they lived, and we know what history tells us about their time. Putting these together and opening our imagination helps us envision what it was like to live their lives.

Family History is about family. We live in a very short window of the historical timeline. We know our parents as adults, our grandparents as older people, our children, and our grandchildren as young people. If we are fortunate, we may get a glimpse of the beginning of the life of a great-grandchild or the end of the life of a great-grandparent. That is only a handful of the many generations that have come before us and the many yet to come. Family History is about extending our knowledge of our families to those we never met in person, learning who they were, how they lived, and the world in which they lived. Learning about our ancestors enriches and broadens our lives. Someday we too will be someone's ancestors

Welcome to our family history. Come, meet our ancestors. Perhaps they, or at least some of them, are yours too. If you have a comment, something to share, or just want to say hello, email me at alfordpublishing@gmail.com.