Wondering

Throughout this project I hope to create a family tree that lists as many family members from previous generations as possible. I am intrigued by who my ancestors were and how they helped shape the family that we are today. I have always been amazed at how blessed I am to have a wonderful, loving family. Often I look back and think about how different this family would be if just one thing had turned out differently. For example, I sometimes wonder where I would be and if I would be married to Charles if my friend/boss had not set us up on a blind date! While I have no doubt that God was using her to bring us together and that we are supposed to be together, I wonder how we would have met if not through her. I also wonder about other family members and how they met their spouse. I wonder what it was like for them growing up. I remember my mom always talking about how little money they had and how she thought it was a treat when her grandma would give her a nickel to buy a coke. Just the little things like that makes me crave for more stories. I have also heard stories told by my grandma that I'm afraid I'll forget. Those are the main reasons I want to create this site, so that they will be preserved for future generations.

As soon as I had settled on this topic for my project, I kept a list of questions I wanted to ask family members running in my head. I knew several questions that I wanted to ask. I also asked my husband what he would like to know about our parents and grandparents. One night we sat down and brainstormed a list of about twenty questions. From there, I consulted some online help. I went through a couple of suggestion lists for inspiration and to double check to make sure I had not left something out that I thought was important. I wanted basic information that allowed for some personalization among each family member.

The two sites I consulted include:

• http://genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm
  
• http://ezinearticles.com/?Write-Your-Family-History---50-Questions-You-Must-Ask-Parents-Or-Grandparents-Before-They-Die&id=800937
  

The list of questions is organized into three different parts. (Once I create my final product you will be able to see the exact questions I asked.) The three parts consist of: "Just the Facts" - includes basic questions such as name, date/place of birth, parents, spouse, children, etc., "Growing Up" - includes questions such as where did you go to school, what did you do for fun, what was your favorite toy, how did you celebrate holidays, etc., and "Adulthood" - includes questions such as profession, memories of your children, etc. I plan on taking this information and analyzing it. From there, I want to expand upon their answers or focus on one response they gave me. This idea is similar to McKenzie's questioning research cycle where as students will move through the research cycle several times before determining what to report.

Finally my focus for the project right now includes creating a family e-scrapbook. I envision one page with a family tree. I envision the other pages including the "nitty-gritty" (responses to family member's questions and some photos)!