Motivation for Sharing Family History

 Wow. I have taken quite a hiatus from this blog. 

 I've been doing genealogy research all along but have been reluctant to share it.  A while ago I had a cousin attack me online regarding our shared family history.  While this cousin was quite angry and called me a liar and claimed that I had fabricated information; they also refused to tell me what I had fabricated.  I was honest and told them I would happily change anything that I was mistaken about.  All I needed was for them to show proof of where I was wrong.  They would never answer me other than to call me a liar.  That experience was painful and I became reluctant to share it here.  This cousin questioned my motives for sharing information here.  This gave me pause.  

What is my motive for sharing my family history?  Is it for my own benefit?  Am I looking for fame?

I pondered this question for a long while.  

I concluded.

I am sharing the information I find because I think that being truthful with history is essential.  I'm sharing these ancestors and relatives because their lives mattered.  They were full-fledged human beings with complicated lives and deserve to be celebrated and known.  I want to share information for other researchers to find.  I want distant cousins to reach out and let me know their side of the family's stories. 

Do I sometimes give the blog post a fun headline?  Yes, because I want people to read and learn about them.  I do not however embellish or lie about the facts that I have gathered. 

I am excited to pick this back up and share my journey in celebrating my family history.  I hope you enjoy learning about my relatives and maybe yours.  I plan on sharing my research notes and more on how I research and how I reach the conclusions that I do.  

I will state the following.  I am not an expert.  I will make mistakes.  I will always try to cite my sources and be open to hearing ideas and thoughts from others.  

Now let's start searching for our roots!