Your birth line can be an amazing discovery. When you look back through history to discover who your great-great grandfather was…what his life was like, to see the world through his eyes you gain perspective.
There is a reverence for the many lives that have come together in the past, so that you happen to be here today. The family that you are born into, and your birth place in that family, sets your life in motion. You don’t pick your parents. Your mother is the beginning of your life. Of course, it took your father’s efforts too!
For many centuries who your father was, determined what you would do in life. Your lot in life came with your birthright. When rulers were Monarchs, bloodlines ruled the land. In America, we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. It was the land of opportunity. Freedom to own land, Freedom of Religion and Freedom from oppressive taxes.
Your family values are passed down from generation to generation. It’s the stories of your ancestors that become your family traditions. What are your family traditions? What things does your family hold dear to its heart? These are your values.
The data we have access to through the Internet includes census data, military records, emigration papers, marriage records, pension records…the list goes on. Through the good hearts of many, even cemeteries are being recorded to help people find the memory of their ancestors. Visit web sites like FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com and type in your family name. It can be a very exciting journey back down a family line.
Original art © by Penny McManigal.
Thank you Quincy Jones for putting together all those fabulous people to sing for us in that project! It’s like a family reunion of my FAVORITE faces and voices. I remember how passionate we all were in 1980, and now 30 years later it makes me cry to see all those people willing to help make this a better world. America is a beautiful place!