Who’s Hanging Out on Your Senior Loved Ones’ Family Tree?

Have you seen that TV program Who Do You Think You Are?  It traces the genealogy of celebrities and uncovers some very interesting stories. According to the show’s website, people “embark on personal journeys of self-discovery to trace their family trees” and “reveal the fabric of humanity through everyone’s place in history.”

We all have interesting stories branching from our family tree if only we are able to spend time uncovering the pirates, pilgrims and heroes. Many of us don’t know much about our ancestors beyond, perhaps, our own grandparents. Oftentimes, our senior loved ones have forgotten what they knew about “the family” or their own parents didn’t know or pass on these interesting family stories.

It is true for most Americans that our families have come from other countries and found their way to America at some point in the past. We have great-great-great grandparents who shaped America and even other countries around the globe. Certainly there are fantastic and unbelievable stories to bring to light. Just knowing what occupations they held, how many children they had or property they owned can be extremely interesting.

Learning about those who came before us helps us to understand ourselves today.  As we have seen on a few of these TV shows, the celebrities uncover grandparents many times removed with similar characteristics to themselves without knowing how their genes have ultimately influenced them. They learn in their journey about family members who were resistors of oppression while they themselves have fought for equal rights. The similarities between the current generation and the ancestors can be quite shocking.

We can also learn about the health and longevity of our ancestors and what might be our own potential health concerns when we undertake a tour of our family tree.

Would you like to learn more?  If you would, we encourage you to try out Ancestry.com to help you uncover your family roots.  It would be wonderful to share this information with your senior loved ones.  We have included a link here to get your personal journey started.

We hope you find what you search for and would love to hear your families stories!