So Much To Be Thankful For

Here in the United States we are one week away from the Thanksgiving holiday. It is a time for all of us to pause and remember all the things we have to be thankful for. The holiday was first proclaimed a national holiday in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. This was during the U.S. Civil War, a time when brother fought against brother, and one of Americas darkest times. I feel that the establishing of the Thanksgiving holiday at that time was not an accident, it showed that if we came together we can heal almost anything. With all that is going on in the world today, I feel the need to put in writing some of those things that I am thankful for as someone searching for his own ancestors.

Morris David Rosenbaum

 I am thankful for all my family that I never knew in life. Many lived in a different time, in places far away from me, yet the legacy they left behind has touched me in many ways. As I have read their stories, I have laughed with some and cried with others but I have been blessed by them all. I truly believe that in order to know ourselves we must know those who came before.

Trinidad, Colorado

  I am thankful for a supportive family that occasionally joins me on this journey.  They have grown familiar with stopping when we travel to see the home of an ancestor and they only mildly complain when they hear a story for the tenth time. Even a grandchild who enjoys searching through cemeteries (this obviously skipped a generation).

Willesden Cemetery, London

I am thankful for all those who preserve the history and memories of our ancestors.  For the archivists who preserve records, historians who document the past, and those societies and individuals who give of their time to clean and protect the burial grounds of our ancestors. We may never see them doing it, but because we can view those treasures, we know they were there.

Family History Library, Salt Lake City

 I am thankful for all those people who make the records of our people available to us. Genealogy websites that allow us to research in our homes, bloggers who keep us updated on new happenings, and speakers and teachers who travel the world guiding through the process, it could not be done without you.

Paris, France

I am also very thankful for the incredible people who no matter what happens in the world, they are always willing to put aside their own needs and help one another. It truly is a blessing to know that even as we try to link our families together, we are all truly brothers and sisters. I am very proud and thankful to have such a  wonderful genealogy family.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, may you and your families have a very blessed holiday.