The Feeling

I was just doing the dishes and I was thinking about genealogy....of course, and a thought popped into my head. How do I describe the feeling I get when I find a new ancestor, or when I find new information on someone.

Imagine you're a small child again. It's Christmas morning and you've just come down the stairs.........do you remember the feeling of overwhelming excitement when you see what Santa has left you? Do you remember the feeling of awe and happiness when you see the tree all lit up and the presents stacked under it? That is just a small sample of what I feel everything I find someone, or something, in or about my family.

It's an overwhelming sense of excitement and awe and happiness, but also a sense of reverence and thankfullness, and pride. It gives me goosebumps. No feeling in the world is quite like it.

I feel so honored to be a part of such a family. I feel so inspired by their lives. I feel so thankful to them for all they sacrificed for me....for everything they did for me without even knowing.

And, (bear with me here while I go off the deep end....) I'm thankful for the ways they help me discover their lives. Seriously. Sometimes I feel like I'm spirit-lead. I'll lie awake at night sometimes, thinking about an ancestor I'm having a problem with. Then I fall asleep and when I wake up in the morning I know exactly where to go to look for him. Of course, this doesn't seem to work with Samuel Martin. He's being difficult.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love genealogy. I love my family - present and past.