Celebrating Life and Family Reunions

Today is my mother's 82nd birthday and she has been gone for over two years. So much has happened in those two years that I am still trying to recover. This year we sold her home, bought a new to us home and are in the process of selling our home from before. Each step of the way there is always the thought that I should call my mother as she would enjoy knowing about the changes. My children say she already knows and is keeping track. This spring my mother-in-law passed away, so we adapt once more to having a loved in a better place. The older one becomes the shorter this life seems to be. While children, grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren seem to extend the joy we know, in the end we will all pass on to the better place.

ICAPGen Renewal - My Activities

Tonight there is a new page on this blog, ICAPGen Renewal Report 2015. This is not a perfect submission, but it is something that may help others in report writing. Below is the letter submitted covering my genealogy activities over the last five years. It has been an amazing ride and looking back is helpful in seeing where to go in the future. The serenditpity for me is that this is still something that I have a passion for doing. If you have ever considered applying for accreditation or certification, go for it! In the long run you will be a better genealogist and researcher.

Selling a House is like Having a Baby

Have you ever been involved in selling a house? We are currently selling our house and earlier this year we sold our mother's home. While this is something that has gone for ages, it always leads to surprise repercussions in the process. You may not have given birth, but there is some common ground in getting pregnant and preparing for a birth. Even with the six births of my children it seems like every time we survived the counting down of  months, days and finally the hours. The anticipation is amazing, but at the final few hours I often wanted just to forget about the birthing process. That is how it feels selling houses, you get almost to the point of exasperation and want to just stop the whole process.

Ruth Chauncey Bishop

 In honor of Ruth Chauncey Bishop - 16 April 1945 to 28 May 2015

Her Biographical Sketch updated 2007:

Ruth C. Bishop is an avid genealogist, as well as a friend to the community. She graduated from Pacific University with a B.A. in sociology, and has advanced degrees in computer programming and accounting. While in school she worked for the yearbook, and from that experience her hobby of photography escalated into wedding photographer and other activities. She was very active until 1974, when serious back surgery and the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis slowed her only slightly. Ruth has a great sense of humor and is fun to be with. Her upbeat attitude is an inspiration to all who know her. She has even ridden on elephants and in hot-air balloons!

Celebrating Family

It has been a month since I last wrote a new post and finally the time has come to share in celebrating family and all that it means to me. But first, I must share that an article of mine has been published in the APGQ (Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly) in the March 2015 issue. It took two years of waiting for just the right moment to send it to Christy Fillerup, who assumed the role of editor of the APGQ sometime last year. She was also in charge of SLIG (Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy) as director for several years. After returning home from SLIG in January and waiting to give her some time to get back on track, the article was sent and I waited to hear from her. 

Unraveling Another Family Collection

For the past two weeks my focus has been on unraveling another family collection. The researcher was a woman who had a great love for her family history and also an interest in joining lineage societies. In the process of her work they were able to join DAR through a third great grandfather.  Others joined SAR through the direct line second great grandfather, but later it was proven that there had been an error in identifying him. He was born in 1792 in Ireland and the family came to America in 1793. There was also a Civil War soldier from the family, the brother of a second great grandfather.

Genealogy Reading - Collecting Free Material Part II

In April 2014 was the first posting under this title. It reflected the reading of periodicals that were picked up from free reading materials at the Genealogical Forum of Oregon. With the reading of those materials there was a wealth of knowledge about the periodicals themselves and about the contents. Recently my visit there gleaned a few books and a copy of Family Tree Magazine and a copy of New England Ancestors. One book was, "A Guide to County Records in the Illinois Regional Archives" and while it is a bit dated, it will provide a glimpse of the holdings of some great resources. For today though my focus in sharing is on the books received from a dear friend who is disposing of her genealogy books. Her life is moving on into another direction and she very kindly is allowing me to distribute her books to repositories where they will benefit other researchers. Before doing so, this is availing me the opportunity to read some great works by some very well-known genealogy professionals and other writers.