Week Eight: Your Oldest Living Ancestor

Who was your oldest living ancestor (grandparent, great-grandparent, even possibly a great-great-grandparent!) at the time you were born? Perhaps you didn't have a direct ancestor living, but a collateral one, i.e. a sibling or cousin of a grandparent or great-grandparent. You can choose to write about this person instead, especially if your grandparents weren't living when you were born or didn't live nearby while you were growing up. Just to make it a bit easier for me, I'm going to refer to this person in my prompts as "she."

*What was the relationship (grandparent, great-aunt, etc.) of the oldest living ancestor you had at the time of your birth?

*What was her full maiden name? What was/were her married name(s)?

*When and where was she born? Who was president when she was born? Go here to find out.

*How old was she when you were born?

*Did you get to know this ancestor/relative personally? What was your relationship like? Were they a favorite, or were you neutral towards this person? Perhaps the relationship was even strained. How did that affect you?

*Describe this ancestor's personality, likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses. How are you similar to this ancestor? How are you different?

*Describe this ancestor's physical features, including complexion, hair and eye color, build, height, and any possible disabilities that she had. How are you alike or different from her in your appearance?

*Did you inherit anything of sentimental value from this ancestor? Describe the item(s) and include a photograph in your blog or journal.

*Did this person ever talk about her ancestors? Tell about the oldest ancestor she may have mentioned, following the same prompts that this blog has.

*Write a short biography of her life from birth to death. Include her parents' and siblings' names, her spouse(s) and child(ren), the places she lived, her occupation(s), military service, etc. Make sure to include full dates and locations of major life events. Also include photographs, especially any that has the both of you in them.

Next week, we'll return closer to home and go in-depth about your siblings. Are you an only child? We can journal about that, too!

Week Two: Your Birth

This week's topic is Your Birth. Please use common sense when posting personal information about yourself on the Internet. You may wish to have a complete posting in a written journal or in a document on your desktop, and only post a filtered version online. For instance, I will be writing more about my birthplace than the birth date itself (a fact that I wish to keep private, not for vanity's sake, but for security from identity theft). Here are your prompts:

*When were you born?

*What day of the week did your birthday fall on? (If you don't know, use this perpetual calendar.)

*Do you think that the old nursery rhyme about being born on a certain day of the week accurately reflects your personality? Why or why not?

*Were you born on a holiday? If so, which one?

*Which famous person do you share your birthday with? What is your opinion of these people?

*What saint day were you born on? If Catholic, do you pray to this saint? Do you feel he or she has helped you in any special way?

*Do you share a birthday with any of your ancestors or relatives? Or is your birthday the same date as an ancestor's or relative's date of marriage or death?

*What is your astrological sign? Do you think your sign fits you? What about your Chinese sign? Do you believe in astrology?

*What major events happened on the day you were born? What happened the year you were born?

*Where were you born?

*Were you born in a hospital, at home, or somewhere else?

*Why were you born where you were? Were your parents living in that town, or somewhere else?

*Who was in attendance at your birth?

*Is there an interesting story related to your birth?

*What do you know about the history of the place where you were born?

*Do you still live in the place where you were born? Why or why not?

See if you have a copy of the earliest photo taken of you, and add it to your journal.

Our topic next week will be Your Family. See you then!

Week One: What's In A Name?

Here is the topic for your first blog: Your Name. Here are some prompts to get you started. There are quite a few in this post, which won't always be the case. You don't have to answer every one!

*What was the name you were born with?

*Who gave you your name? Why?

*Were you named for someone? Who?

*Do you like your name? Why or why not?

*If you could change your name, what would it be, and why?

*If your name is different now from the name you were born with, what is it? What was the reason for the change (marriage, adoption, legal name change, etc.)

*Do you have a nickname? How did you get it?

*Do you have a baptismal, christening, or saint name?

*Do you know the meanings of all your names (first, middle, last)? (Go here for first and middle name meanings; then go here for last name meanings [enter last name, then choose "Name Meanings" from drop-down menu].)

*As an adult, how do you prefer to be addressed by others (Mr., Mrs., Ms.)? Are you comfortable with children addressing you by your first name?

*Is your name difficult to spell or pronounce? What are some of the more unusual mis-spellings or mis-pronunciations that you've endured?

The topic for our next post will be your birth date and location. Be sure to send me links to your blog! You can read my answers at my other blog, AnceStories (see link at right). Until next time...

Miriam

Getting Started

Have you ever thought how wonderful it would be if you came across a diary or journal of one of your ancestors...one that not only documented the details of their everyday lives, but also those of their character, personality, and interests?

Have you ever considered that someday YOU will be an ancestor...even if you have no children or grandchildren, those generations within your family that come after you will someday look at you as someone who lived "long ago." One of the best legacies that you can leave for future generations is the story of your life along with sharing memories of those who have gone before you. How to begin? That is the purpose of this blog.

I have purchased journals in the past, some with blank pages, others with questions and lines for you to fill out with the answers. The problem I've encountered is that I don't always remember to journal consistently, especially in blank journals or diary-style, with the date written at the top of each page. With the question-and-answer style of journal, there either seems to be not enough lines, or too many. I have found that a blog format meets my needs. I can write as much or as little as I like, and edit without the mess of erasures or cross-outs. By having a blog and being accountable to my online audience, I hope to journal consistently.

I invite you to come along with me on my journal journey (both words have the same root). I will post a question, or group of questions, related to a single topic. You can subscribe to this blog by using the "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" link at the bottom of this page, and receive the questions each week. Both you and I can post our answers in our respective blogs. Or you may choose to simply post a response on your desktop or laptop using Notepad or Microsoft Word (or whatever it is you use for documents). You may choose instead to handwrite your answers in a blank journal. You can be creative and print up your posts to display in a scrapbook, along with photographs or drawings. If you post to your computer, remember to back up your hard drive regularly and often! If you join me on this journal, drop me a line (see my profile for contact info).

Never blogged before, but you would like to? I recommend reading Robert Ragan's article "How to Create Your Own Genealogy Blog in Less Than 5 Minutes." It's a very simple, easy-to-use tutorial.

A word of caution: the Internet is a public place. Use common sense when writing about personal data or living people. You may wish to edit (filter) the info you place on a public blog, and keep a duplicate posting with the more private info on your hard drive or in a bound journal.

About the name of this blog: I tried to come up with a snazzy title like "Future Ancestor," "HerStory," or some such thing, but they were all taken. I settled with "AnceStories2." AnceStories is my website; it is full of Stories of my Ancestors, hence the name. I already have a blog called "AnceStories," which is mainly an online research log. So here we are with AnceStories2. I hope you write great stories for your descendants!