A Valentine's Day Love Story

Happy early Valentine's Day to all my wonderful readers! In honour of tomorrow being all about love, I want to share a true love story with you. 

First, take a look at the 1916 photo on the left. It is a picture of my mom (in my grandmother's arms), my grandmother Fuller, my aunt Lily (in my grandpa's arms), my grandpa Fuller and standing in front, a little 2 year old boy named Godfrey Harwood.

Godfrey's parents were best friends with my grandparents. My grandparents lived in Guelph Ontario and Godfrey's parents lived in Toronto Ontario but the two families visited frequently. 

Mother's First Winnebago parked in my driveway 1973

When Godfrey was a teenager he went to live with my grandparents and during his stay he fell in love with my mother. He did not say a word to her, as his old-fashioned values prevented him from declaring his love when he did not have a job or money. So he left their Guelph home when mother was 18 and he was 20 years old, determined to work and save money to come back and ask my mother to marry him.

What he didn't know was that my mother had feelings for him too but of course being a woman in those days she could not tell him. She in turn had no idea he felt the same way about her. Godfrey did return when mother was 19 but she had just gotten engaged to my father, so he kept quiet and never spoke to her of his feelings or why he went away. 

They drifted apart and never saw or heard of each other again. My mother and dad married, had 4 children and lived out their lives until my father died 24 years after they were married. Mom was alone after that and eventually she went to live with her widowed mother and sister. 

In 1971 the 3 widows sold their belongings and bought a Winnebago. They traveled around N. America for many years. In fact they were written about in several articles in RV magazines. Eventually they decided to settle down more permanently. Sometime around 1984 when they bought two trailers, one to park in Florida, the other to park in Ontario. 

They chose a trailer park in Lettuce Lake Florida and settled in. As they were unpacking, who should step out of the next-door trailer but Godfrey! It was the first time mother and Godfrey had seen each other since 1934 - some 50 years earlier. 

Mother & Godfrey buld their own Ultra-Light

I'm sure you can figure out where my story is going so I will cut to the ending. Godfrey was married but his wife was gravely ill. A few years later she died and Godfrey felt free to tell mother about his feelings. Yes, he still loved her and much to his surprise (and I'm sure delight!) she returned the feelings. 

Mother and Godfrey never married but they lived together until his death in 1995. And so they came full circle and had several years of happiness together. 

During their time together they had many adventures. They built their own ultra-light airplane. Mother took flying lessons towards getting her pilot's licence. They went out for coffee one morning in British Columbia and decided to leave the coffee shop and drive to California to see the Rose Bowl Parade in person. They did not stop at their trailer, deciding they could buy what they needed on the way. 

Another year they decided to pack up their pup tent and go camping in Alaska. Mother was in her 70s at this time. They were gone for several weeks on that little jaunt. 

After Godfrey's death mother sold everything, packed what little she had left in her car and drove over 2,500 miles alone back to Ontario. She was 79 years old at the time. She continued her life of adventure, starting with her decision to back pack across Australia for her 80th birthday. But her next 10 years of adventures galore is best left for a different blog post.

Merry Christmas to My Dad

This is the only photo I have of my entire family at Christmas. It was taken in 1955. I'm the youngest one sitting on my dad's knee and holding a very precious gift - a walking doll.

I was very close to my father and it came as a blow when he died at the age of 47 on Christmas Day 1960. I still remember the gift I bought him that year. I was in Grade 9 and had gone out on my own and purchased a little daschund china dog with cups hanging from its side. And there it sat, unopened, under the Christmas Tree while we waited for news from the Oshawa Hospital that Christmas Day.

I was curled up in a chair in the corner of the living room while my mother and older siblings whispered in hushed tones in the kitchen. I remember our phone ringing many times. I remember the endless waiting while I stared at those unopened presents to my father lying under the tree.

It was my brother who came to tell me that our father had died. The phone had rung and everyone was quiet. I heard nothing until my brother came into the living room and said "He's gone" It was difficult to feel anything except shock and bewilderment. 

I don't remember the rest of the day except at one point I sat in front of the tree and unwrapped the gift I had bought my father. I don't know what happened to that little dog with hanging cups. I'm glad I don't have it. I have enough sad memories at Christmas without a constant reminder the other 364 days of the year.

I still miss my dad even though 50 years has passed. Christmas is a hard time for me. I love my family and love watching them open gifts, love having the big Christmas dinner(s) but late afternoon and early evening Christmas Day is a reflective and sad time in my heart. I'm always surprised by how much I still miss my father!

So Dad - here's to you on this Christmas Day. You are not forgotten. My children and grand-children hear my stories about you and your life - as short as it was. Your photo hangs on my living room wall. And you are the reason I started searching our family tree. It was all for you. And genealogy led me to many marvellous things in my own life. Death took my father at far too young an age but I won't let him be forgotten.

A Spooky Look at Past Hallowe'ens

It was always so much fun creating costumes for my boys for Hallowe'en.

What are your memories of this fun holiday?

Five Days of Family Photo Stories: Miss Mulligan's Girls

Recently Gail Dever wrote about a very cool idea on her blog. Her post is called Writing about your life — and your ancestors’ lives — in five photos She inspired me to follow suit in a blog meme called Five Days of Famiiy Stories 

Just choose 5 photos that you love from your collection of shoeboxes and albums. Feature one each day on your blog or in your personal journal. Tell the story of the photo - where was it taken, who is in it, who took it, what year was it taken, what emotion does it invoke when you look at it, etc. 

 

This is my last photo in this series

This is a photo of my beloved grandmother, Ruth Simpson, in Miss Mulligan's Girls, in the Ellington School in Ramsgate Kent England. It was taken circa 1902 when she was 8 years old. Grandma is the young girl in the middle of the back row.

I am lucky enough to have a few photos of Grandma in the dance group in other years. What surprises me is that she never mentioned this to me. Yet she was the story-teller.

As I a little girl I would listen, fascinated, to her stories of her childhood, of her parents and grandparents, and of leaving England for Canada at the age of 19.  

These photos came to me a few years ago from her youngest daughter, my 93 year old aunt.

Five Days of Family Photo Stories: 5 Sisters in Hats

My friend and fellow blogger Gail Dever wrote about a very cool idea on her blog. Her post is called Writing about your life — and your ancestors’ lives — in five photos

She inspired me to follow suit in a blog meme called Five Days of Family Photo Stories.

Just choose 5 photos that you love from your collection of shoeboxes and albums. Feature one each day on your blog or in your personal journal. Tell the story of the photo - where was it taken, who is in it, who took it, what year was it taken, what emotion does it invoke when you look at it, etc.

Here is my photo and story for today:

 

Cabinet Card taken ca 1905 St. Mary's Ontario Canada

This photograph is of four Purdue sisters - Margaret born 1875, Louise born 1881, Nellie born 1882 and Carolyn 1877. The sisters were milliners in Toronto Ontario, and these wonderful hats are their own creations.

I love the variations they created with two very flamboyant hats in the back, one on the right front much more restrained, and on the left front, one very simple hat. I've often wondered - do the different styles reflect their different personalities or was it simply due to inexperience versus experience in hat making! 

All in all this is one of my favorite photos. 

The gal standing on the right strikes a casual yet cocky pose with her arm resting on the chair and her head tilted slightly. She seems to be saying "Okay world, here I am. What are you going to do with me!" I find it significant that her hat is the most flamboyant. I suspect she was a very confident young lady. 

By contrast the sister seated on the left seems to almost disappear. She is rigid, her body seems so very tiny and insignificant. That simple and tiny hat on her head also adds to the idea that she may have been shy and timid.

 

Five Days of Family Photo Stories: Ribbons and Bows

Recently Gail Dever wrote about a very cool idea on her blog. Her post is called Writing about your life — and your ancestors’ lives — in five photos

She inspired me to follow suit in a blog meme called Five Days of Family Photo Stories.

Just choose 5 photos that you love from your collection of shoeboxes and albums. Feature one each day on your blog or in your personal journal. Tell the story of the photo - where was it taken, who is in it, who took it, what year was it taken, what emotion does it invoke when you look at it, etc. 

This photo was taken in a studio in Guelph Ontario in 1923. Just look at the bows in my mother and aunt's hair! How on earth did my Grandmother find the time to make them look so sweet? And the ringlets are amazing. I wonder if they had electric curling irons back then or did Grandma have to heat the irons on the stovetop?

I wonder if Grandpa Fuller helped out or did he make himself scarce while Grandma was getting her three daughters ready for this photo? Grandma could get pretty stressed out so I suspect she was a tad irritable during the process. No doubt my mother had strenuous objections to being all dolled up and having her hair put in curls! Mother is the middle daughter sitting down and she's 7 years old in this picture.

Although photographers often had standing subjects pose with their hands on the person seated in front, I'm thinking that older sister Lily's hands on my mom's shoulders were to make sure my mother stayed in her seat!  

Do you think Grandpa took them all out for ice cream afterwards? I hope so but knowing Grandma I doubt it. No doubt she would not want their dresses to get messy. Maybe they got to go home and change. I imagine Grandma had a headache and would want to lie down so it's very possible Grandpa took Lily and my mom out for a treat. I never knew him but according to his daughters he was pretty laid back and easy-going. 

Do your ancestors have a story to tell? Maybe it's time to give them a voice through a photo.

Five Days of Family Photo Stories: An Engagement Outing

Recently Gail Dever wrote about a very cool idea on her blog. Her post is called Writing about your life — and your ancestors’ lives — in five photos

She inspired me to follow suit in a blog meme called Five Days of Family Photo Stories.

Just choose 5 photos that you love from your collection of shoeboxes and albums. Feature one each day on your blog or in your personal journal. Tell the story of the photo - where was it taken, who is in it, who took it, what year was it taken, what emotion does it invoke when you look at it, etc.

 

This is a photo of my mother and father, probably in the spring or summer of 1935. They aren't married yet and Dad is giving Mother a lovely bouquet of flowers. Look at her happy face! Mother rarely smiled or laughed as a parent, and this picture lets me know that she once had a life that made her happy. Dad looks like he's hamming it up! Dad was 23 years old and Mother was 19 in 1935. I love seeing them so young and obviously in love.

Standing next to my father is my Grandfather (Mother's dad). It looks like he's pinning  a flower on Uncle Joe's sweater and Uncle Joe looks pleased as can be. Uncle Joe was Dad's younger brother and he would have been 10 years old. The young girl on the far right is my mother's youngest sister Eileen. Auntie "I" as we call her, was 12 years old that year. I think how nice it is that the two families have gone on a picnic or an outing together. 

I bet Mom and Dad are newly engaged and the families are getting to know each other. I think my Grandmother (Mother's mother) must have taken the picture and even that is hard to imagine! But she is missing from the picture and should have been there if the families were on an outing. 

My Auntie "I" is the only person in that photo who is still alive and that makes me ponder life so this is my thinking photograph. There they all are - young and happy and enjoying the day, but time moves on, and as it must, it extracts its toll and ends for all of us. The poignancy of this moment, frozen forever in a snapshot, says so much more than it appears on first glance.  

It reminds me to embrace every moment with as much joy as possible for life is fragile and fleeting. This quote springs to mind:

"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” ― Omar Khayyám, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Five Days of Family Photo Stories: Two Little Girls in 1917

Recently Gail Dever wrote about a very cool idea on her blog. Her post is called Writing about your life — and your ancestors’ lives — in five photos

She inspired me to follow suit in a blog meme called Five Days of Family Photo Stories.

Just choose 5 photos that you love from your collection of shoeboxes and albums. Feature one each day on your blog or in your personal journal. Tell the story of the photo - where was it taken, who is in it, who took it, what year was it taken, what emotion does it invoke when you look at it, etc.

I'm going to start with this photo - one of my favourites for several reasons. It is a studio photo and was taken in Guelph Ontario in 1917.

My mother Joan sits on the left holding a large stuffed cat. Her older sister Lillian looks quite frightened and is clutching a doll in one hand and pulling at the hem of her dress in the other. It's a familiar habit isn't it? Children who are nervous or shy will often pull at their clothing when faced with something that causes that emotion in them.

I love the looks on their faces - so somber. I can just imagine my Grandmother Ruth dressing them that day. What an ordeal it must have been to iron those dresses and try to keep the girls clean until they reached the photography studio! But Grandma always dressed herself and her girls beautifully.

Joan's hair is neatly parted and slicked to the side. I can picture Grandma wetting a finger with spit and slicking that hair down.  It looks like she even managed to curl Lily's hair! I can't imagine trying to get a 3 year old to sit still long enough.

This photo makes me smile. It's also humorous in some ways because my mother was allergic to cats so seeing her hold a stuffed on strikes me as ironic. I wonder if the cat and doll were the studio's toys or Joan and Lily's favourite toys at home? I'll never know. 
 
Both my mother and aunt are gone now. I can't share this photo with them anymore. But I can share it with others in my family and perhaps they too will smile when they see it. 

Remembering My Dad Cecil McGinnis Who Died on Christmas Day

Back in November my good friend Gail Dever of Genealogy a la Carte mentioned a blog post by another friend and writer Lisa Alzo called Ten Things I Miss About Dad: Remembering John Alzo 1925-2005 

I read Lisa's touching post and knew I wanted to write about my dad too. My father died Christmas Day 1960. It has been 55 years since he left us at the age of 47. I did not have an opportunity to say goodbye. I remember the last time I saw him on December 23. I was 14 years old and he had been in the Hospital for a few months. 

He hadn't been feeling well all summer. By early Fall he was hospitalized in the Ajax General Hospital but I was not allowed to see him as they had a strict policy of no children under age 16 being allowed to visit. After a few weeks he was moved to a larger city hospital in Oshawa and then I was allowed in for short visits. I only saw him a few times and he was in so much pain he did not seem to know who I was. It is not those moments or last weeks of his life that I want to remember so here are the wonderful memories I have of my dad.

I don't have many photographs of my father. Saddest of all I have none of him with me. But I have my memories.

1. Dad loved to pretend to be a monkey and jump around with us kids. I remember him at my uncle's house in Guelph - my cousins and I screaming and laughing in the front yard as Dad crouched, swung his arms, made monkey sounds and leapt around the yard chasing us.

2. Dad always had time to play catch with me in the driveway.

3. I was the only child of four siblings that got to go fishing with Dad. He said it was because I was able to sit quietly for hours reading a book while he fished in the creek or river. I loved that time together as he often chatted quietly for a bit and taught me how to fish. I used to clean all the fish for him when we got home. When I was 10 he bought me my own fishing rod. How I wish I still had it.

4. Dad tried to teach me to swim but I was terrified of the water. He did start teaching me to skate in the winter by taking me alone to the frozen pond and helping me. He bought me a hockey stick so I had something to lean on as I moved slowly around on the ice.

5. I was definitely Daddy's little princess. In his eyes I could do no wrong. The pride and love in his eyes when he introduced me to his friends was something I have firmly planted in my memory and I can call on anytime I want to remember that feeling of happiness.

I miss you Dad. I miss not having you around to know my children and grandchildren. I miss not having had you at my wedding. I miss all the years I didn't have you in my life. And I treasure the memories I do have. They bring you back to me whenever I want.

New E-Book Writing Your Memoirs For Descendants

We all love to find a journal or diary or  a letter written by a great-great-grandfather or grandmother or another ancestor.  But we often forget that our own stories will be just as exciting to our children and grandchildren. It's  important for us to record our own memories and write our own journals to pass on to our descendants.

I'm very excited to let everyone know that I have written an E-Book  called Writing Your Memoirs For Descendants: Prompts for Recording & Preserving Your Family Stories and Memories available on Amazon.com for only $2.99

My 54 page E-Book provides almost 150 prompts and suggestions for guiding  you  as you record your childhood memories and stories. Each prompt has several questions designed to jog your memory of events. It also contains suggestions for publishing your journals to share with family members.

For those who have been following my Sharing Memories blog posts, you will be happy to know that my E-Book has new prompts organized by categories. For example one category is Firsts (first Kiss, first Dance, first airplane ride, first birth in family, first car, first death in family, first wedding in family, etc. )

Did you know that if family stories are not recorded and preserved, they will be lost within 3 generations? Don't let that happen to your precious family memories!

Thinking about Ancestors and Their Cars

A few days ago hubs and I purchased a new vehicle. Wanting to show it to friends and family we took photos and posted them on Facebook. That got me thinking this morning about my ancestors and their cars. Did they take as much (or more) delight in their new vehicles as we do?

Hubs and I chatted, trying to recall any photos we had of family or ancestors with their cars. After a half hour or more of hunting through folders on our two computers, we came up with the photos you see below. They start with hubs' great grandmother (in the hat) in her carriage going to town.

And they end with me in front of our new vehicle. It's fun to see the changes in cars and it makes me wish I'd taken more photos of all the cars I've owned in my lifetime and that my ancestors had done the same! My mom often talked about riding in the rumble seat of her dad's Model T. What I wouldn't give to have a picture of that.....

What photos do you have of ancestors and their cars?

Very early pre-car days!

circa 1920s

Hubs' grandparents drove off on their honeymoon in this car

My mother and grandfather (far right) circa mid 1930s

 

1930s. Hubs' grandfather is on the right holding the horse

Hubs' grandparents late 1930s

Car Pride 1950s

More car pride 1950s

A Young teenager (me) circa 1961/1962

I'm shovelling snow from my 1977 Pontiac Acadian

and now...

Today is International Day of Families

The International Day of Families is an occasion to celebrate the importance of families to people, societies and cultures around the world.
What will you, as a genealogist, do to celebrate this day? Here are a few of my options:

These are four of my ten beautiful grandchildren in the photo on the left. They all live too far away for me to visit any of them today but in this wonderful world of the internet and technology I can Facetime them, Skype them, interact on a Google + Hangout or have a visit in any number of ways.

I could visit my elderly Auntie who will turn 90 years young in July. Or I could phone her. She's online and likes to have video chats in Google Mail so that's another option.

My grand uncle (my grandfather's brother) will be 101 years young in August of this year so it would be wonderful to chat with him. He still lives at home with his 97 year old wife with whom he celebrated their 72nd Anniversary just last week.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could visit him and record some family stories? I can't do it today as he lives too far away but it's a project for another day.

So make your plans for today and spend some quality time either researching family or contacting them via phone, video chat or email, or doing some in-person visiting. Enjoy International Day of Families!

Carpe Diem! Missed Genealogy Opportunites

Aunt Mary

Recently I've been thinking about my Uncle Joe. He knew I was interested in our McGinnis family history and origins, and every time I'd visit him he'd offer to phone his Uncle Henry or cousin Dan so I could meet them. I'd have an opportunity to ask questions, look at family photos and gather more information on our family origins. But I refused every time.

I didn't feel like it. I was tired. I was shy. I was in Elora to visit him, not strangers. Those were my excuses. Mind you I was a lot younger then. I was in my 30s and even though I loved genealogy I guess I just didn't have it as my top priority.

They are all dead now. Uncle Joe, his Uncle Henry, his cousin Dan and many others I never met and whose names I've forgotten! A missed opportunity.

My dad used to take us to Guelph every month to visit his mother and brothers. While there we always went to see his Aunt Mary (his father's sister). She was, I suspect, the keeper of the family treasures, knowledge and photographs. She was married but childless and my dad was very fond of her. I was terrified of her and her husband because they seemed so old and dour to me! Even her clothes frightened me.

Then my father died. I was 14 years old. My mother and I continued going to Guelph to visit his mother (my grandmother) but we never visited Aunt Mary again. She lived until I was 20 years old! I've no idea who cleared out her house in Guelph but I sigh now to think of all the photos that no doubt were there tucked away in albums or in boxes. I've never seen a photo of my great-grandfather Alex McGinnis and would love to know more about him.

Mary was his eldest child and was the only one I know of who had anything to do with him after he and her mother separated in the 1890s. Mary erected a tombstone at his grave and paid for his burial. I am convinced she had photos and other memorabilia about Alex. If only my mom had kept in touch! If only I had sought her out as a young adult. If only I could have whispered in my own ear from the future "Ask to see family photos!" "Ask about her father Alex and his parents Joseph and Fanny!" Another missed opportunity.

Pratt pot lid

As much as my maternal grandmother and I talked about her family, I never thought to ask her about her grandparents! I asked about her parents and she told me many stories of her life as a child in Ramsgate England. For that I'm grateful. She also passed on many family treasures to me - her favourite brother's book presented to him in 1908 for perfect attendance at Sunday School, her mother's toast rack, her husband's engraved gold pocket watch given to him on his 21st birthday, her mother's beautifully decorated Prattware pot lids and more. I'm lucky to have them. But... why did I never ask her to tell me what she remembered of her grandparents? Or of her voyage to Canada from England in 1913? I missed many chances to learn more.

Some chances we are entirely accountable for missing. Others were missed because of circumstances beyond our control. But no matter the reason, we lose the opportunity.

Do you have an elderly relative you've been meaning to visit? To ask about their memories? Do it! Don't wait or you may miss a golden opportunity. Remember.... Carpe Diem! Seize the Day.

Auntie and I Scan Family Recipes with Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner

Auntie and I at Greek Restaurant

A few days ago I visited my 88 year old auntie. That's us sitting in a Greek Restaurant that she wanted to try for lunch.

After a lunch of Greek Salad and Chicken Souvlaki in a Pita, we headed back to auntie's apartment. She continued telling me more stories of growing up with my mom and my grandparents (her parents)

My great-uncle, my grandpa Fuller's brother, turns 100 this summer and we were trying to figure out if we could pay him a visit and get his family stories too!

The problem is he is stone deaf and doesn't like to wear his hearing aid! And he's a bit gruff too so he kind of scares me.

But the stories he could tell me might help me overcome my hesitation

Scanning with Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner

Back at auntie's apartment we pulled out the Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner as auntie said she had some of her mother's recipes written in her own hand.

I was eager to get copies since I love to cook and want to try some of Grandma's recipes.  I've got two of my grandma's recipes that aren't in her hand as I wrote down what she told me when I was a newly married bride.

Auntie had two recipes from Grandma for Christmas Fruit Cake that my Grandmother wrote out for her so I scanned them and took photos with my iPhone.

The recipes are written on 6 1/2x10 inch paper so couldn't be scanned in one scan but with Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner stitching software I'm not concerned.

I just scanned them in three sections - top, middle and bottom and later I'll stitch them together to make one image.

Grandma's Fruit Cake Recipe

One of the recipes I have from Grandma is for Spotted Dick, and it was actually her mother's (my great-grandmother) recipe.

The other is for Cow's Tongue and a relish-sauce to serve with it.

Spotted Dick might as well be called Heart-Attack-in-a-dish so I've only made it once. We do enjoy Cow's Tongue and I use that recipe frequently.

One of the funny stories auntie told me on this visit was how her grandmother Fuller (my great-grandmother) used to pull humbugs out of her pocket to give to auntie to keep her quiet in church. But the humbugs were unwrapped so were covered in lint and hairs! To this day auntie says she hates humbugs.

5 Steps to a Quick & Easy Genealogy Christmas Gift

Stuck for a Christmas Gift for a relative? Starting to panic when you realize your aunt is coming to visit in two weeks and you need to find a gift for her before then? Here's a simple idea for a very nice (but fast and easy!) Christmas gift. We're making this one for my husband's uncle for Christmas.

Step 1: Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner, get comfy on your couch or recliner and start scanning 25 to 50 of your family photos.

Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner

Make sure the photos have a connection to the person you're going to give this present to!

Step 2: Import your photos to your computer. Crop or straighten or do whatever is needed to your scanned photos. Then print them as size 4x6 inches on best quality paper.

 50 page Gift Album for 4x6 photos

Step 3: Buy an inexpensive photo album. You don't need an archival quality album as you are only putting copies of your original photographs into it

Step 4: Place your scanned and printed photos in the album and then write a description of each photo on the album pages.

Step 5: Write a nice inscription inside the front cover, place the album in a Christmas Gift Bag and you're done!

Example of album page

Another example from our gift album

What Will You Do With Your Genealogy Research?

Randy Seaver wrote an interesting blog post about his hopes and his plans for his genealogy research after his demise. For an avid genealogist of a certain age, this is a question of huge importance.

I am a firm  believer that no one,  no matter how interested, will want my 6 filing cabinet drawers of loose papers. No one will want dozens of family surname binders. 

This extends to all of us. Who would want drawers and drawers of loose papers, no matter how well organized? Who has the time to read it all or the space required to store it?

Digital copies on DVDs? Maybe.. but will they survive technological changes? Will they be readable 50 years from now?

It is unlikely that any museum or library will want your work in loose form.

For me, the solution has always been clear in my mind. The only way I can come close to guaranteeing that my years of hard work will not be lost is to write and publish family books. I can self-publish using any number of websites such as Lulu.com, Shutterfly.com, Blurb.com and soon.

I can print books myself, create laminated covers and bind them using coils. I could print copies of all documents, run off a family pedigree chart and place everything about a specific person or surname in a binder.
 
That doesn't work well for me as I would end up with 50 or more binders. I don't think anyone would want to give them house room! But it is an option.

That takes care of the documents and research I've done. But what about treasured photographs?

Some of the Family Books I've self-published

Again, in my mind it's a clear choice. I use Shutterfly to create family photo albums. I label each photograph and sometimes I put in a brief sentence or two about that specific photo. Then I have them printed and I distribute them NOW to family members.

I'm not going to risk keeping them in my house and hoping that when I'm gone my executor will take the time to distribute them. By giving them out now, I've also got insurance against a fire or other calamity destroying all the copies in my possession.

Another thing I do  is  create photo books on Shutterfly and order 4 in hard cover - one for each of my children and one for me. Then I inform other family members (siblings, cousins, niece and nephews) that copies in soft cover are available. (Soft cover is cheaper than hard cover. ) If they wish to have their own copy, I simply charge them exactly what Shutterfly charges me, then I have the copy shipped directly to the family member who asked for it.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I've also worked very hard and consistently over the years to encourage my grandchildren in the love of family history and genealogy. I've played games with them, talked to them, shared stories, showed photographs and family treasures (talking about the ancestor whose photo or treasure it was).

My theory is that since I have 13 and soon to be 14 grandchildren, at least one of them might take up the torch for me! And if no one does, that's okay too because I know that some of them will remember bits and pieces of the stories and be able to pass those memories on to their children.

The last thing I've done is to tell my husband and also leave written instructions for my executors as to what I would like done with my collection of genealogy resource books and my collection of Civil War Era Photo Albums that are not of our family.  My wishes may or may not be carried out but I've done what I can to ensure that they are.

Have you thought about what will happen to your years of research? Have you developed a plan or set one in motion? I'm curious to learn what others are planning.

SaveThose Memories! Convert VHS Tapes

My old VHS home movies 1983-1992

Well, I finally gave up on the idea of using the Diamond OneTouch system to capture and transfer my old VHS home movies to DVD. It was just too time consuming and inefficient to suit me!

So I opted to purchase a Toshiba DR560 1080p Upconverting DVD Recorder with Built-in Tuner

The reviews said I could pop in a VHS tape and a blank DVD, presss a button and bingo it would transfer.

Cables, Toshiba and Remote

So I set it up (easy), and after 4 days of popping in one VHS tape after another, I now have 13 DVDs, each with 2 hours of old home movies on them! I'm so happy with this machine that I might even offer to convert my brother's old VHS tapes for him.

You can see the cables that came with the machine (also the remote) I didn't need anything except the machine and the remote.

Here's a few tips for you in case you decide to buy one:

Setting up Toshiba

 1. Hook the player to a television so you can see what's playing/being recorded. I used this to note the times and what was on the tape. That way I can make a  detailed list of exactly what is on each DVD and how long each part lasts.


2. Settings. When you turn the machine on, you will be able to set your settings - it's very easy and the manual directs you in easy-to-follow instructions

Blank DVD inserted

3. Insert a blank DVD-RW. Make sure it's RW (Read/Write) Your machine will automatically format it in preparation. When it's ready you see text "VCR>DVD" on the screen.

4. Now you pop your VHS tape into the player and press "DUBBING" That's it - sit back and enjoy watching your old home movies!

Watching a tape being recorded to DVD

5. My DVDs were left on the default setting which gave 2 hours of tape on one DVD. You can change this (follow instructions in manual) if you want. The Dubbing stopped automatically and the VHS tape stopped too so I could simply insert another blank DVD and carry on dubbing.


6. After your DVD has stopped recording, you must use your Remote to select SETUP. Then you choose the option FINIALIZE DISK. This makes the DVD playable on other VCRs. If you don't finialize your DVD you can only play it on the Toshiba you used to record it.

7. I opted to type up my scribbled hand-written notes for each tape and make a neater insert for each DVD

There is a lot more you can do with this machine but I wanted to keep it simple and just get the old home movies done. My earliest is 1983 when my sons were 3 and 10 years old and they had already begun degrading. Time was of the essence!

Now I need to make copies of the DVDs so that I can pass these treasured family memories on.