Marking the Day

The night in the early '80s when we went to see Baryshnikov

This morning my Mom was reunited with her ancestors.  She passed away after a 5+ year battle with Alzheimer's disease. A parent dying tears at the heart.  When they die of Alzheimer's much more conflicted feelings are felt. Sadness on the one hand and relief on the other that they will no longer suffer.

I wanted to take a moment to honor my mother on this day by remembering her.

My mother was a lifelong genealogist. She greatly enjoyed researching her own family history as well as my father's lines. While she was not a professional, her research was very good.  She left behind good records and photocopies of her sources.

Sometime in the past year my brother commented to me that he thought my Mom would be really proud of what I have done with genealogy. My mother's Alzheimer's kicked in just as I was becoming a professional genealogist and house historian.  My mother never knew that I gave genealogy presentations and webinars or that I wrote genealogy blogs.

My brother thought that my mother would have been quite proud that I had assumed the mantle of family historian and taken it to a new level. I think he's right. I think Mom would have been quite tickled to see what an active genealogist I've become.

I'm sure my mom is already chasing down the ancestors and demanding the answers that she didn't get in this life. I just hope that she will think to whisper them to me so I'll be able to break down some more brick walls.


Photo credit: photo taken by George D. Edwards Jr.