We're Two Today

We - My Ancestors and Me -- turn two today. If you consider our years since physical birth, we are all much, much older than that but together we've completed two years of blogging. It's an accomplishment I feel like celebrating.

These have been interesting, fun, challenging years. I can't speak for my ancestors (who probably aren't interested in blogs) but from my view it's been an educational experience. During this time I've expanded my knowledge about blogging, researching, writing, online resources, and the genealogy blogging community.

When we started two years ago I knew little about blogs and even less about blogging. We had one reader: my daughter. For the most part, it felt like I was very alone, writing for myself and publishing for no one to read. When I announced the creation of My Ancestors and Me to my extended family, some began, sporadically, to read it. (Most of my living family members are not as interested in our ancestors as I am.) When I found GeneaBloggers, I knew I'd found a niche. I was surprised -- and pleased -- to see that people I didn't know were interested in reading what I wrote about my own family. I was grateful then and continue to appreciate the support I receive.

It's sometimes hard to balance my time between research and writing (and the rest of my life, too). Research suffers when I devote time to writing but when that happens, I think my ancestors help the research by gently nudging me in one direction or another to find sources and documents to tell about their lives. Ofttimes when I'm busy researching, I post about research done before this blog existed. I share information because I want my ancestors and their contributions to life on earth to be remembered. A newly discovered ancestor, or information about him or her, usually finds its way into a celebratory post. Like the woman searching for the lost coin in the parable in Luke 15, I rejoice and announce the news to readers who sometimes celebrate with me. I also rejoice when unknown cousins contact me, interested in sharing their own research and knowledge and in learning about mine. I find that two heads are better than one.

To those of you who have come along on this wondrous blogging experience, thank you. I hope you'll continue along with me as I share new and old research and information about my ancestors. Thank you!