Night Elf Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Am I the only person who really doesn't care what my family tree looks like? The idea of genealogy is so boring to me. Is there something wrong with me? Is my genealogy gene defective? :tongue_smilie: I guess I'll go sit in the corner now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Am I the only person who really doesn't care what my family tree looks like? The idea of genealogy is so boring to me. Is there something wrong with me? Is my genealogy gene defective? :tongue_smilie: I guess I'll go sit in the corner now. I have no interest in it either. My dad didn't like to talk about his family and what I know about my mom's is neat but I don't feel like delving into any kind of research to find anything out. Meh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I love the narrative aspect of knowing my family's past. I cherish the stories my grandparents and dh's have passed down to us. I love that I own a rocking chair that came west on a covered wagon. I love that dh's great grandfather's chairs that he made are part of a living history museum (we saw them there on vacation once, very cool!) and that my great grandmother actually came on an orphan train as a "half orphan." Although I would love to hear more stories from where we came, I don't care enough to search it down or anything :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I find it fascinating, but my husband and most of my extended family couldn't care less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I'm not very interested. There are a few family stories that are fun, but I can't see researching it, despite enjoying research. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Sometimes there are neat things to stumble across in the family tree, but (imo) it takes a lot of work & devotion to find those things. I'd rather let someone else spend his/her time working on it. ;):001_smile: So, no, I'm not super-interested in geneaology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 no, you're not the only one. My Aunt has traced our family back to 1600s in Poland, but they're all average "Joes" As long as the tree has branches I'm good with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 My mother in law is like that. Because of that kind of thinking in my husband's family a lot of family history has been lost and difficult to trace. They don't care and only a few actually care, or care to realise that there are those in the family that do and could have benefited from it. Honestly, I find it sad (and please don't take offense to that...it's a personal emotion, not indicative of anyone's character). I could go on and write a paper on what having roots and a connection can mean to an individual, a family group, a culture, and a society. I grew up as a TCK and "lost" from my father's side and siblings until a few years ago...so I know that all of that plays a huge role in it. Finding cousins and family has been one of the greatest blessings. It's not all about the family tree straight back, but can also be about making connections with others today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Sometimes there are neat things to stumble across in the family tree Yup. For instance, my grandmother, being English, could not stand the French. I found out through my research that she was French. She would've hated that. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Yup. For instance, my grandmother, being English, could not stand the French. I found out through my research that she was French. She would've hated that. :D :lol: (Ok, but did you research that info yourself or let another relative do it? ;)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I am missing the genealogy gene! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I'm another one who is mostly uninterested. I mean, it's interesting to have my mother tell me stories about her grandfather who went to work in a coal mine at the age of seven, because this is a person she had a real connection with. But tracing things back past my parents' grandparents, or tracing out more distant connections? I don't care at all. I have a friend who is always wanting to tell me some new thing he discovered about the genealogy of his family. I don't even care about mine, so imagine how interested I am in his! I am polite about listening anyway, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I wasn't for a really long time but this year with us studying American History I decided to join DAR so that the kids can do CAR. I had to do the genealogy for that and it was actually surprisingly addictive. The online tools *REALLY* make it so much easier than what I remember seeing my relatives do when I was a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I used to not care very much. Growing up, I'd hear stories about this or that relative, and I wasn't interested enough to ask questions and find out more. That was such a mistake! Over the years, as my husband and I have watched our children grow, we've had endless conversations about whether they resemble one side or another. I believe a lot more in the influence of heredity than I used to. I would love to know more about where our family came from, what the various members were like, and whether our children are like any of them. And I can't -- because I don't have enough information! My parents and my husband's parents are dead, and they didn't leave much genealogical information behind. In fact, my mom was adopted, so I'll probably never learn anything about her family. My husband and I joined Ancestry.com, and we've found out some bits and pieces of family history, but there are large chunks of information missing. If I'd only asked my dad or my father-in-law more questions when they were alive, I would know so much more. They would have been glad to tell me anything I'd wanted to know. I wish I'd taken the trouble to write down as much family history as they could tell, along with names and dates, and taken lots of photographs. It wouldn't have taken too much time to do that, and it would have been a priceless gift for our children, who may one day really need or desire to know their relatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I find it fascinating, but my husband and most of my extended family couldn't care less. Ditto! Dh just rolls his eyes at me. I'm always asking him questions about his side of the family. He doesn't know and doesn't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 There was a time in my life when I loved studying my geneology. I wanted to know as much as I could and wanted to archive as much as I could. Then I adopted 2 children and I realized that even though they have my last name they have a completely different family history and most likely my family history will mean nothing to them. So I stopped and don't think much about it beyond a generation or 2 that I knew. My SIL is very much into researching family history but for her that is a fovorite hobby. I'd rather just knit. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I don't really care. I am interested in my close relatives, my dad's parents, etc. But anything beyond that, eh. My husband is tracing the family tree. I find it terribly uninteresting. He did confirm a story about my mother's family that I always found iffy. But it's true. A little strange, but true. It's reassuring that the story I was told is not just a fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 dh and I don't care. We aren't nostalgic either...maybe there's a connection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I have noticed that it is something both my parents have become fascinated with as they got older, but it wasn't a big deal when they were younger. My mother has written detailed biographies of both her parents- both of which are a little boring to me to read, but on the other hand, times have changed so much, there is certianyl some fascinating stuff in there. TO me though, what woudl be more interesting woudl be udnerstanding their values, the way they thought and what they believed- more than what they actually did. Its interesting that more native (and Asian) cultures put quite an emphasis on honouring and remembering their ancestors, yet in the west we dont- we tend to forget them completely after a generation or 2. I think there is something we are missing, personally, but we dont have a context for really valuing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 What I already know about my family history does not compel me to want to know more. Count me in the don't care camp too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Sometimes there are neat things to stumble across in the family tree Yup. For instance, my grandmother, being English, could not stand the French. I found out through my research that she was French. She would've hated that. :D :iagree::iagree: My mom and I were once watching a program on PBS about the Calusa Indians and they were showing photographs of some people in the tribe (which is now extinct) and we both gasped when they showed this photo of an old woman who was a dead ringer for my great-grandmother (my mom's grandmother). She looked exactly like her! And the kicker was, my great-grandmother was born in Key West (which had been Calusa territory) and lived there until she moved to Tampa as a teenager. After we saw that we were wildly curious to find out if she had Indian blood in her, but there was no one to ask and no way to find out. I guess we could do a genetic test, but even if it were true, the story is lost and it would have been fascinating. Well, to us at least. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I think it would be interesting to know more, but I don't care enough to work hard at it. :-) My mother's family is from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If I go all the way down to Hatteras, almost anyone I bump into is a relative. We've been there since the late 1600s, but there is little information about where we came from. One cousin traced her line back to Yorkshire, England, by way of Barbados, but it wasn't easy. My maternal grandfather's father apparently sprang out of the earth...none of us have been able to find his parents, siblings, cousins, nada. So, if my research was a little more productive, I might do more, but really...I don't care that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonNative Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I like to hear family stories from my mom and dad about what they can remember. But as far as ancestors/family tree-no, I have no interest in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I don't really care that they are MY ancestors, but I do enjoy matching the stories I hear to places. I was rather delighted to meet a very light skinned African when I was in training. I was comfortable with him, so I mentioned he seemed to be lighter skinned than most of his compatriots. He said he had a Swiss GF. Yes, same tiny village and same last name. We called each other cousin after that, although my ancestors left there in 1868, and his GF left there in 1945. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Am I the only person who really doesn't care what my family tree looks like? The idea of genealogy is so boring to me. Is there something wrong with me? Is my genealogy gene defective? :tongue_smilie: I guess I'll go sit in the corner now. Well me for one. I have no interest because I have no tree. I was adopted and every time a teacher did those **** trees I wanted to blow a temper tantrum. When I buy curriculum that has them...I skip those lessons. My tree is gone and dh's tree is more of a weed.... No interest is a vast understatement! Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Well me for one. I have no interest because I have no tree. I was adopted and every time a teacher did those **** trees I wanted to blow a temper tantrum. When I buy curriculum that has them...I skip those lessons. My tree is gone and dh's tree is more of a weed.... No interest is a vast understatement! Faithe This. My bio father split before I was born. I know less than nothing of him and he is dead now. So I only have my mom's side of the family. My dh is adopted. So we know nothing for either of his parents. So I can provide almost no information for my bio ds should he ever have an interest. I n addition, I now have two adopted children who also will not be able to do one of those stupid family tree assignments so I will be throwing them in the trash right next to yours!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 This. My bio father split before I was born. I know less than nothing of him and he is dead now. So I only have my mom's side of the family. My dh is adopted. So we know nothing for either of his parents. So I can provide almost no information for my bio ds should he ever have an interest. I n addition, I now have two adopted children who also will not be able to do one of those stupid family tree assignments so I will be throwing them in the trash right next to yours!!! :D haha.. Just don't EVER make the mistake my Mom did when I came home with one of those assignments. (NOT that you would ever do this so callously. I know you (from this board) well enough to know what an awesome Mom you are) ...anyway, I interviewed my aunts and uncles..put together a kinda cool tree (for a 5th grader) and showed it to her. I had even went to the big library and found some info on the grandparents coming to America from Russia and Poland. I asked how she liked MY family tree...and she laughed (not bad laughter...just confused laughter) and said that wasn't MY family tree as they weren't my REAL relatives. I was floored. Those were the aunts and uncles I loved....the grandparents etc. AND when my Mom's family later on did their family geneology tree...my brother and I were very noticeably NOT on it. Then they wonder why we don't want to spend any time with them...sigh..... UGH!! I do like other peoples fun family stories though...and I am hoping I live an interesting enough life and I am "odd" enough that I fill my kids, grand kids and progeny with plenty of stories...LOL!!!! Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanamom Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Eh. I am ok with geneology as long as I think of it as a "social" family history. Let me explain... My grandfather did a TON of genealogy and traced much of the family back to a lot of royalty. That would have been mildly interesting except for the fact that some family members use this as a bragging platform. :glare: I'm sure my grandfather's research was very sound, BUT... Come on. Records are not always accurate. Social conventions across the ages can cause people to put all kinds of untrue info on official forms. So... Sure, socially my family and I have a pretty darn well researched family tree... But biologically...? I'm more interested in participating in the human genome project. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Faithe, that is AWFUL!! I have an adopted brother of a different ethnicity. When he had one of those assignments, my mother asked him if he wanted to research his birth family (he came from foster care, and was removed at the age of 6. It was not as if he didn't know his birth family) or his adopted family. He chose his adopted family. My mother thought his teacher probably got a kick out of this dark skinned African American boy bringing in his family tree of German and Irish relatives :) But we are his family. I can't imagine my mother not letting him use us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 My MIL got on a geneology kick for a while and managed to trace her side of the family to some combo of Vikings & British royalty (she has an unusual maiden name), and traced my FIL's side to Swedish/German aristocracy, both of which she made a HUGE deal of (had coats of arms hanging in the house, managed to drop it into every possible conversation, etc.). She's still the same alcoholic digbat she always was, but it gave her one more reason to feel superior. :glare: Neither DH nor I had much interest in that sort of thing to begin with, and then DH found out that his father may not have even been his biological father anyway, plus our DD is adopted, so it's all pretty meaningless to us. And DS is a future paleontologist so the word "ancestors" has an entirely different meaning for him, lol. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I'm mildly interested, but I can't imagine that either DH or I could get far with any kind of genealogical research -- his parents were immigrants, as were my grandparents, and FIL doesn't even know his exact birth year. My grandfather didn't know his birthday. This does remind me, however, that about 30 years ago one of my cousins interviewed my grandfather about his childhood in Russia. My mother has the tapes somewhere. We should really digitize them before cassettes become completely obsolete. I would be interested in doing one of those DNA swabs, though. I've been fascinated with that ever since seeing that Henry Louis Gates program on PBS a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I would be interested in doing one of those DNA swabs, though. I've been fascinated with that ever since seeing that Henry Louis Gates program on PBS a few years ago. My mom did that maybe a year ago and the result came back the most common genetic type in Northern Europe (something 1/3 of the population). Total waste of money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secular_mom Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Sometimes there are neat things to stumble across in the family tree, but (imo) it takes a lot of work & devotion to find those things. I'd rather let someone else spend his/her time working on it. ;):001_smile: So, no, I'm not super-interested in geneaology. :iagree:I feel a bit guilty because I get to hear about all the interesting stuff from my mom and my aunt, but it's my aunt that does all the work finding it. But it is her hobby and she enjoys it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I also don't care. Both of my parents were immigrants and I do know their histories to some extent. I may have had some interest if it wasn't for dh's family. I don't even know that he would care. But my family came from better circumstances than his and I wouldn't want to dwell on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asta Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 On kind of a funny note... one of our family names is Belgian and ends in "er". In the French section (Walloon), that would make it be pronounced with a long "a". In the Flemish section (Flanders), it would be "er". Well, one of my sisters has always had this weird delusion that she didn't really fit in our family - that she was long lost royalty or something LOL. She insisted that the family name should be pronounced "a", and was actually from France. And since it had a "de" prefix, well, she must have come from some type of royalty/landed class, etc. Fast forward, I move to Belgium and a great aunt of mine puts me in touch with one of these distant relatives. Guess what? They're Flemish! Through and through! It's "er", not "a", and we're talking blue, blue, blue collar - not "landed class". DH and I still laugh about that one. A little genealogy can be a dangerous thing... a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraffe Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 A little genealogy can be a dangerous thing... a I've done a lot of genealogy (got the bug at age 13!). After years and years of pouring through courthouse land and estate records I've finally come to the conclusion that we are just a bunch of swamp dwellers. Literally. Everywhere my ancestors lived, they were next to a swamp. When I crossed the pond and did some research on the family name, I found we were from the peat bogs in England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I used to not care very much. Growing up, I'd hear stories about this or that relative, and I wasn't interested enough to ask questions and find out more. That was such a mistake! Over the years, as my husband and I have watched our children grow, we've had endless conversations about whether they resemble one side or another. I believe a lot more in the influence of heredity than I used to. I would love to know more about where our family came from, what the various members were like, and whether our children are like any of them. And I can't -- because I don't have enough information! My parents and my husband's parents are dead, and they didn't leave much genealogical information behind. In fact, my mom was adopted, so I'll probably never learn anything about her family. My husband and I joined Ancestry.com, and we've found out some bits and pieces of family history, but there are large chunks of information missing. If I'd only asked my dad or my father-in-law more questions when they were alive, I would know so much more. They would have been glad to tell me anything I'd wanted to know. I wish I'd taken the trouble to write down as much family history as they could tell, along with names and dates, and taken lots of photographs. It wouldn't have taken too much time to do that, and it would have been a priceless gift for our children, who may one day really need or desire to know their relatives. This might be why I don't care as much. Since my parents died when I was a teenager and I only knew my one Gramma (she died when I was 13; the others were dead b4 I was born) I don't want to think about what I don't/can't/won't ever know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieH Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I'm kind of in the middle. I find it mildly interesting, but not really enough to hunker down and actually research it. But if one of my other relatives did, I'd totally be into hearing about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in OH Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I'm not interested. I don't know why. I just never really mattered to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Yup. For instance, my grandmother, being English, could not stand the French. I found out through my research that she was French. She would've hated that. :D Maybe she knew. My grandmother always used to badmouth the Irish. Then I found out from the 1880 census that my grandmother's grandmother was Irish. She must have known. Maybe she just couldn't stand her relatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I haven't read the other replies -- just the first few on the first page. I could not care less -- that being said, I have a cousin who is a couple of years older than me who is fascinated with our family tree. She has travelled to Italy numerous times (a few times a year, in fact), has photos of everyone on that side of the family -- and, yes, the resemblance to all of us here in the states is uncanny. She loves it -- I find it interesting, but have no interest in pursuing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Is there something wrong with me? Is my genealogy gene defective? I used to be extremely into family history and genealogy. I have traced my family back generation after generation; thirteen generations in one branch, to be exact. I have it all neatly arranged and available for whoever decides they want the information, because after I adopted my kids, I realized that genealogy is ... just not that important. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyable Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I have no interest either, but in a "passive agressive" kind of way I guess - being adopted (like some PP) I don't care anymore where my adoptive family comes from. I want to know my *real* roots. Which is pretty much impossible...so, I don't care! (other than the little "knife twist" I feel anytime these subjects come up.):tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I find the family tree to be somewhat interesting, because it provides a very real glimpse at how much people did actually move around. It gives a very different picture of history than we all assume. We're always told no one moved anywhere, but that really just isn't true, if one looks at my ancestors. They may not have moved out of the country they were in, but they were definitely moving around within the country. From a biological standpoint, I find this fascinating. However, I really don't have the inclination to do the actual research. There are people in my family who are real interested in this stuff and have searched back to the Norman Conquest (at least for the few lines that they can find info on -- see note below). From their researches, I've concluded 2 things: 1. People who have done thorough research tend not to be descended from anyone "important". (There's a lot of seat-of-the-pants research going on out there, and it tends to result in a lot of "royal descent" from royalty that didn't have surviving offspring.) 2. Most English birth records were wiped out during the reign of Henry VIII, so it's often difficult to go back further than that in England unless your ancestors lived in some out of the way area of the country. (At least, that's my assumption on why most of the lines stop then.) But if you're interested in history, the 1880 US census is a fascinating glimpse at the way people were living back then -- there's all sorts of info on occupations and how many people were living together etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.