Time Measured by RootsTech

When I was a kid, I measured time by school years. As a college student, time was measured by semesters. And then I discovered the beauty of connection; time was measured from how long it was until my favorite Orthodox college student conference every winter. In my 20s, my year was measured by my vacation time. And now, in my 30s, I measure time from genealogy conference to genealogy conference!

So guess what's coming y'all! RootsTech Connect!

This year, RootsTech is all virtual - thanks 2020 - and it's going to be FREE! If you haven't registered  yet, it's SUPER easy and fast. Just click here, put in a few details, and you're all done! 

Join genealogy enthusiasts from around the WORLD from 25–27 February 2021 for around the clock family history education and connection. 

Soon, you'll be able to see all the classes you can attend from the comfort of your home.

On top of all the great speakers, you'll get to listen to four keynote speakers: Lorena Ochoa, professional golf player from Mexico; Francesco Lotoro, pianist from Italy; Sharon Morgan, African American writer and genealogist; and Nick Vujicic, motivational speaker from Australia. Click here to learn more about them and why they'll be speaking at RootsTech Connect. 

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Have you registered yet? What are you waiting for!?

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

Christmases Long Long Ago - Part 2

Merry Christmas y'all!

In today's post, I'll be sharing the second part of the sermon I gave on 20 December 2020. Before reading on, make sure to read Christmases Long Long Ago first! 

Scripture & Hymns

Scripture and our hymns reveal that Christmas has nothing to do with a pagan holiday and everything about our radical belief that Jesus Christ is God became man – that God, the creator of everything – came and lived a life like us. That God is with us!

Let’s look at St. Paul’s letter to the Church in Colossae. Here St. Paul is talking about Christ:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent." - Colossians 1:15-18

This is a radical, radical passage for a Jewish man in the first century to be writing about another human being. He’s saying that Jesus Christ is God, that He didn’t somehow become God, or that he appeared like God. But that Jesus Christ is the image of God the Father, that He is the only way that we see God. That He’s the first-born, that He before all creation was begotten of the Father as we say in the Creed. That everything that we see and everything that we don’t see is because Jesus – before He took on flesh from the Virgin Mary – made it so.

This is an amazing passage that echoes through into the Creed that we say every Sunday. Now, I also want us to look at some of the hymns that we sing during Christmastime to show what it is that we’re celebrating.

One says:

"I see here a strange and paradoxical mystery. * For, behold, the grotto is heaven; * cherubic throne is the Virgin; * the manger a grand space * in which Christ our God the uncontainable reclined as a babe; * Whom in extolling do we magnify."

 

It’s talking about the cave that the Virgin Mary gave birth to Christ in. Oftentimes we think of it as a barn but the Church in its icons show it as a cave where the animals were living in. And the Church refers to the cave as heaven itself – reflecting on this mystery. Similarly, the icon above the altar shows the Virgin Mary with the words Πλατυτέρα των Ουρανών (Platytera ton ouranon), the one that is wider than the heavens. The one who in the mystery of the incarnation contained Christ. In this icon we also see Christ on the Virgin Mary’s lap, as if she is the throne of God. So the hymn is also comparing her to the angels that form the throne of God.

During Christmas, Orthodox Christians greet one another with, “Christ is born” and respond “Glorify Him!” This greeting comes from the katavasias hymns of Christmas:

"Christ is born; glorify Him! * Christ is come from heaven; go and meet Him. * Christ is on earth; arise to Him. * Sing to the Lord, all you who dwell on the earth; * and in merry spirits, O you peoples, praise His birth. * For He is glorified."

In another hymn, the Church refers to Christ as the tree of life that is blossoming forth at Christmas.

"O Bethlehem, prepare, Eden is opened unto all. * And be ready, Ephrata, for the Tree of life * has in the grotto blossomed forth from the Virgin. * Indeed her womb is shown to be spiritually * a Paradise, in which is found the God-planted Tree. * And if we eat from it we shall live, and shall not die, as did Adam of old. * Christ is born, so that He might raise up * the formerly fallen image."

As opposed to the tree in the garden of Eden that after eating from it, Adam and Eve began to die, now we have this tree that through Him we have life.

And then we have a BEAUTIFUL hymn in the Hours on Christmas Eve. This hymn echoes Holy Friday’s hours during Holy Week. On Holy Thursday night, while Christ is being brought around the Church on the cross, we sing, “Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon a tree.”

A similar hymn, but referring to Christ’s birth is sung during the Hours of Christmas Eve morning:

"Today, He who holds the whole world in His hand is born from a Virgin. (3) He who is impalpable in essence is wrapped in swaddling clothes as a mortal. God, who in the beginning established the heavens of old, is lying in a manger as a newborn babe. He who rained down manna for the people in the wilderness is nursed by His mother. He who is the Bridegroom of the Church is summoning the Magi. And He is accepting their gifts, now as the Son of the Virgin. We adore Your Nativity, O Christ. We adore Your Nativity, O Christ. We adore Your Nativity, O Christ. Also show us Your divine Epiphany."

It's showing this paradox about what we believe as Christians. That this mystery of this great God who has showered his love upon His people throughout the Old Testament is now living among us in this mystery. So why does any of this matter?

Why celebrate Christmas?

Why does it matter that we celebrate Christmas? Why do we celebrate Christmas?

After all, I love the lights, I love the Christmas trees and the presents, the tinsel and the ornaments. But that’s not what Christmas is about. I love family, I love carols and Christmas meals – especially pecan pie - , but that’s not what Christmas is about. And I love the hymns and the scripture readings, and the night-time service on Christmas Eve. But that’s not even what Christmas is about. We have Christmas because CHRIST IS BORN!

What I mean is: Christmas isn’t about this or that. It’s about Jesus Christ Himself and us preparing our hearts to meet Him together with the Church.

We believe in a God who is bigger and greater than we can ever imagine. Yet…that God who is greater than everything came to experience life as we live it. He came to sanctify this life, to make our existence holy, to renew creation, and ultimately to die (not to take our place but) to destroy the power of death and sin in our lives by rising from the dead.

We believe in a God who became man, born into an imperfect family just like we were born into imperfect families. Because it shows us that God doesn’t wait for us to be perfect first, but He comes to us and makes us holy.

Christ is risen because Christ is born. And this is joy because we’re connected to Him through our baptism, through Holy Communion, and through all the sacraments of the Church.

Grandma Nora's Decorations

Recently, I heard a story from Christmastime about my Grandma Nora that gave me goosebumps. She passed when I was only 2 weeks old, so I never got to make Christmas memories with her.

She loved nature, she loved her garden, and she loved her family. It must have been painful for her once my family became Jehovah’s Witnesses and they could no longer celebrate Christmas together.

But one Christmas, my Grandma Nora had found all these praying mantis nests which she had placed around the house as decoration. Well, you guessed it. They hatched! So somehow years later, at my first Christmas, when she couldn’t be with us, God was letting us know that we could share a little bit of her joy too.

I pray that your Christmas is filled with just as much JOY – hopefully a few less praying mantises – and that you have the peace in knowing that Christ is born! Glorify Him!

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I love getting to share family stories and these special memories with all of y'all. Thank you for humoring this not-entirely genealogy related post and I wish you and yours a blessed remainder of the Christmas season and a happy new year!

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

Christmases Long Long Ago

Christ is born! Glorify Him! I love this traditional Orthodox Christian greeting at Christmastime. 

In today's post, I'm sharing with you a sermon I gave on 20 December 2020 at my parish in Virginia Beach. I've transcribed the 15 minute sermon from a recording and I've edited it some for you here.  

To make it easier to read, I'll be posting it in two parts. I hope you enjoy these humble reflections on Christmas and that you'll join me for part two!

My First Christmas

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Everyone that knows that I’m a genealogist might be expecting that I’m going to talk about genealogy; after all, this morning’s Gospel passage came from Matthew 1:1-25 on the genealogy of Christ. Instead, I’m going to talk about Christmas because it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about and it’s right around the corner. It has me reflecting back on my earliest Christmas memories. Every year around this time of the year we all tend to get a bit nostalgic.

As a little kid, I LOVED nature! My first books were actually Audubon field guides. They weren’t normal kids’ books like Doctor Seuss but were books about nature: trees, mammals, birds, insects and spiders – I had and still have a dozen of them. When my family decided to become Christians when I was 5, I found it pretty exciting that we’d have a huge tree standing in the living room at Christmas.

We had been Jehovah’s Witnesses, a group that doesn’t celebrate any holidays (birthdays or Christmas) but now we were Baptists. So we could have Christmas! Our house had an overlook so from the second floor you could look down into the first. With that in mind, my dad managed to get the tallest red cedar tree that he could find. My dad was so proud of that tree!

This particular Christmas morning was so exciting for me! My first Christmas! But this day, my house was filled with more nature than just this tree…because unbeknownst to us, that tall, beautiful red cedar also had a praying mantis nest inside. And Christmas morning, nature-loving Sam woke up to a house with seemingly billions of itty-bitty praying mantises all over the house. For me it made for an amazing Christmas, but for my 12-year old sister, not so much.  

For my family, this Christmas was especially significant because for us it was the first time that we went from self-identifying Christians that didn’t celebrate Christmas to now identifying as newly converted Christians and celebrating it.

Today I want us to look at some of the history of Christmas: why we do celebrate Christmas, what are some of the hymns that we sing in the Orthodox Church, and what we as Orthodox Christians believe about Christ.

History of Christmas

As Christians in our modern society, we often get trapped – especially as Orthodox in America – in other peoples’ culture wars. Notice, I said *other* peoples’, not ours. For example, there are many Christians who say there’s an “assault on Christmas!” They’ll say, “we know there’s an assault on Christmas because they say ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas’” (Ignoring that we actually do have a lot of holidays from December to January.) And then people will respond with either of these two voices: 

Protestants will say “Keep Christ in Christmas!” 

And then Roman Catholics will say, “Keep the mass in Christmas!”

We have these two sides and then sometimes we as Orthodox get stuck in the middle of it.

But the assault on Christmas that we may be seeing did not come from other religions, it didn’t come from atheists, it didn’t come from politicians. It came from within the Christian world. 

You see, in the 1600s, the Puritans in New England had outlawed Christmas. And even before that, Protestant reformers had shunned the holiday saying that it had pagan origins. These Protestant reformers used this myth or partial-truth as a way of justifying the Reformation.

And then you have later on in the secular world, our atheist or agnostic friends will say, “well you know, you shouldn’t even be celebrating Christmas because it’s a pagan holiday celebrating the sun!” as a way of discrediting the feast. But ironically, those atheists and agnostics are actually using Christian arguments against the celebration.

What’s the truth? The history of Christmas – just like any history – is complicated!

We don’t know exactly when Christians first celebrated Christmas, but we do know that there was a later pagan holiday in Rome celebrating the sun that started in the 270s – over 200 years after Christ. It didn’t exist before Jesus. And that was only in Rome, yet Orthodox Christians were celebrating the feast all over the Christian world - not only in Rome. From Egypt to Constantinople, from Jerusalem to Armenia, we celebrated Christmas. So we know it can’t just be because there were some people celebrating the sun-god as if somehow they’re who gave us Christmas.  

We also know that the way we celebrate Christmas evolved over time. There’s another holiday around the corner: Epiphany or Theophany, the day we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. Originally, for several hundred years, the Orthodox Church celebrated the Baptism and the Nativity of Christ on the same day. But in the West, the Church of Rome celebrated Christmas separately. Eventually by the late 300s and into the 400s, the Orthodox Church started the celebrate these feasts on two different days. And you even see in the Church in Armenia that they still celebrate these feasts together in January.

Today, there are many people who identify as Christians but who refuse to celebrate Christmas because they think we stole it from Roman pagans. But this ignores WHY we celebrate Christmas – what we believe about Christ and why this matters for our salvation. 

Next time, we'll look at some scripture and the hymns for Christmas and see what they can teach us about what we believe about Christ and why we celebrate this feast.

*****

My two worlds – Orthodox Christian ministry and genealogy – rarely combine quite like they did during this sermon, so I knew I had to share it with all of y'all here. Genealogy in the Bible, history of a family celebration, and even some stories of my childhood all together! 

I hope you'll join me for part 2 as I finish the sermon...and maybe even the praying mantises will make another appearance! 

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today! 

*Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Virtual Genealogical Association 2020 Conference

Y'all, it's almost that time again! VGA Conference time! If you're not familiar with the super fun Virtual Genealogical Association's annual conference - and for your chance to win a free pass - read on!

What's VGA?

The Virtual Genealogical Association is a community of family history enthusiasts and genealogy professionals from a round the world. We have an annual 3-day conference, monthly webinars, and we have meet-ups at other societies' in-person conferences and events. There are also other perks to VGA membership - like a discount to the VGA conference, and more! So check out the About Us section on the VGA website.

Membership is only $20 per year and you can join here!

Virtual Conference?

The 2020 VGA Conference is three full days of genealogical education. And it comes to you all from the comfort of - well - anywhere you are! There are four pre-recorded sessions (of which my lecture is a part), and live classes from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. EST. It's a fun bunch, so don't expect to be bored, y'all!

Who's speaking?

Our speakers include well-known genealogical speakers from around the world. Their presentations will cover topics ranging from religious records to military records, strategies for various ethnic groups, genealogy research methods, and using DNA in your research.

My presentation covers the 5 most common difficult discoveries a genealogist might make in their research. Because families are often more complicated than polished family histories and well-organized family trees. Learn how and why to proceed with caution, and get healing tools for use in grappling with the other side of genealogy.

To learn about all of the presentations, click here. 

A Free pass?!

You have the opportunity to win a free pass to this year's VGA 2020 conference! It's super easy to enter, and even if you don't win my pass this year, you'll still have a chance to register before November 13th.

To enter my VGA 2020 Conference giveaway, just click here and fill out a short questionnaire.

I'll notify everyone of the winner on Wednesday, November 11th, here on my blog and on my Facebook page, The Orthodox Genealogist. 

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I hope y'all are as excited as I am about this year's VGA Conference! It's sure to be lots of fun and everyone will learn something new and useful in their own genealogical research.

Have you joined VGA yet? Were you at VGA's 2019 Conference?

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

Register today for RootsTech Connect

Every day, more and more people are discovering their family history and making connections with family past and present. 

This coming year, RootsTech is making that even easier for all of us with RootsTech Connect. This will be a FREE, international, and ONLINE conference for people to connect with their family history wherever they're from and wherever they live.

How do you join in on all the fun this year?

1. Put RootsTech down in your calendar now for 25-27 February 2020!

2. Learn more about RootsTech Connect at RootsTech.org. 

3. Register today here. 

4. Watch this inspirational video and get psyched about the conference!

5. Stay tuned for more updates here at the Orthodox Genealogist as all the exciting news on speakers, events, and activities are shared with us!

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Have you been to RootsTech before? How excited are you that it'll be FREE this year?!

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

Connections Experiment: Wales

Back in May 2020 - which feels like forever ago - I had the opportunity to participate in a 21 Day Family Connections Experiment. The purpose was to connect with family history, connect with family, and to experience how this changes our lives in real time.

It was a great experience and that's why I'll be participating again this month for three weeks. You can join me by going to the Family Connections Experiment website, scrolling down to "Join" and click "I'm in!" This will lead you to register and to take a quick survey.

Once you've joined the experiment, you'll want to choose a plan to follow for the next three weeks. I'm going to do the "Cultural Connections Plan" because it's right up my alley. I love learning about cultures and traditions that are new to me. And what better way to connect with my ancestors than to learn about their traditions and their culture?

Which homeland will I be learning about these three weeks? Wales! My surname is Welsh - Williams - and it means "son of William." Though, I suppose it's an anglicized version of "ap Gwilym." You can learn more about Welsh naming traditions by clicking here.

Why do I want to learn more about Wales? Honestly, it came about rather unexpectedly. I was watching The Crown on Netflix and I saw a spectacular episode titled, "Tywysog Cymru" (meaning "Prince of Wales" in Welsh). I loved how The Crown gave a voice - literally - to the Welsh language and recognition of the ancient culture and history of the Welsh people. Much of the episode was in the Welsh language, which gave me an opportunity to hear Welsh for possibly the first time. Have you heard Welsh spoken? 

So guess what I did next? I signed up for Duolingo's Welsh language course for free on the Duolingo app! And I'm now on day 23 of Welsh learning! I know, I can barely believe it either...

I'm certainly well along now on a journey of discovery of my Welsh roots!

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Well, y'all, that's all for now. I hope you'll consider joining me on this 21 day Family Connections Experiment! Which plan is your favorite? If you choose the Cultural Connections Plan, which homeland will you connect with for these three weeks?

Until then, I'll be here learning about all things Wales (Cymru) and Welsh (Cymraeg), connecting with my ancestors and to their homeland!

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

Free Webinar on Virginia Research

Going to conferences to hear from other genealogists is a real privilege. I learn so much from their experience and their passion. It's also a joy for me to share my passion by getting to speak to groups about genealogy and family history! But what is a genealogist to do with the limitations due to COVID-19?  Well, thanks to the determination and ingenuity of genealogists everywhere, along with the help of some technology, there are a lot of great new opportunities to connect virtually.

Friday, August 28, at 8 pm EST I'll be giving a *FREE* webinar hosted by our friends at VIVID-PIX. It'll be a fun night getting to talk about my home state, the Commonwealth of Virginia! Just click here to register for the webinar.

My topic

Meet Virginia: Best Kept Secrets for Researching the Old Dominion

Do y'all have roots in Virginia? In this webinar, we'll get to know the beautiful Old Dominion and discover the best kept secrets of Virginia research. Explore Virginia's idiosyncrasies, identify available records (in person and online), and see examples of genetic genealogy at work for Virginian descendants.

About VIVID-PIX

Who - or what - you might be asking, is VIVID-PIX? The VIVID-PIX software restores old photos, slides, and documents with beautiful results. I'll be sharing some photos they've restored of mine in my presentation, but here's one of my favorites.

It's a photo from about 1976 of my Vaughan family reuniting at the old family home in Darvills, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. It was one of the few times my grandmother returned to her childhood home as an adult. And there she is, third row from the top all the way to the left. But the photo has a yellow glow about it.

Here's the same photo with the help of VIVID-PIX.

Whoa, right?! The sudden realization dawns that not everyone was wearing yellow! Now, if you're ready for some more ah-ha moments relating to Virginia research, you know where to go!

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I really hope y'all will join me tomorrow, Friday August 28th, at 8pm EST! If you can't make it at that time but you're still interested in watching, fret not, y'all! We're recording the talk and it's available for a 30 day rental for only $1.99. To register, just click here!

Do you want to learn more about Virginia and the best kept secrets for Virginia research? I hope you'll join me!

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

Exciting New Photo Tools at MyHeritage

At this point in 2020, we all need a pick-me-up. Am I right or am I right?

Well, our friends over at MyHeritage have delivered just we the doctor ordered. Something that we can do from the comfort of our homes and that will keep us from being bored. Oh, and it involves family history, so it's got to be good! 

MyHeritage has two new photo tools that help us look at old family photos like we're seeing them for the first time. And until September 10th, you can restore and colorize as many photos as you'd like - for FREE - even without being a MyHeritage subscriber! If you aren't already clicking away at the MyHeritage page, and maybe you need to be sold a bit more, read on as I share some of the success I've had using their tools.

MyHeritage Photo Enhancer

The MyHeritage Photo Enhancer is amazing. It takes those blurred faces in old photos and crisps them up as if they were taken yesterday. I don't know how they do it - honestly it looks like magic - but who am I to complain? Look at what it did!

First, this is a photo of my beautiful great-grandmother Mimi - Gertlie Edgerton Brooks. I wrote about her here: Mimi & Pop. Here are the results after putting two of these photos through the Photo Enhancer.

I had noticed before how much my mom looks like Mimi, but WOW! This photo being crystal clear just made these details pop!

Here's a detail of my Pop's face from the same blog post I shared above. 

Now check out what MyHeritage Photo Enhancer did to bring Pop to life!

I love this tool, y'all!

MyHeritage In Color

The next tool that's new to MyHeritage and that's free and unlimited to all until September 10th is MyHeritage In Color. After you've enhanced your photos, you can add color in a matter of seconds. Or if you already have crystal clear photos, but want to see them come to life, go straight to this tool!

Here's an enhanced and colorized photo of my great-grandparents at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia (see the original at Mimi & Pop).

I just love how they pop out of the photo now. The trees and grass are green around them but they're still stealing the show. Beautiful!

And then check out this photo of another of my great-grandmothers, Mary Susan Wooldridge Williams, with her father, her siblings and their families. The photo dates from about 1912 in Powhatan County, Virginia, and I wrote about it here: A Wooldridge Family Photo. 

This is after enhancing the photo and colorizing it. Some of the figures just pop off the page, don't they!? Sadly, my great-grandmother's face is simply too distorted in the image to be restored. But her brother (all the way to the right) is amazingly clear now.

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Not only are these two MyHeritage tools super easy to use, but they're FUN to use. And for the next two weeks, until September 10, they're free and unlimited for everyone. So what are y'all waiting for? Go have some fun and share your results too!

Have you used MyHeritage for your family history before? While you're checking out these tools, check out the rest of what they can offer you and your genealogy needs!

My ancestors - and your ancestors - deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's keep encountering our ancestors through family history and remembering the past made present today!

Connections in Quarantine

In Virginia, we've been in a state of emergency since March 12th and under a stay at home order since March 24th due to COVID-19. With limited access to nearly everything - including people - how was a connector like myself to stay connected? Genealogy and technology!

Here are some of the things I've been up to during this time that have helped keep me connected.

#ABatchADay Challenge

At the end of April, I started a seven-day challenge to index records on FamilySearch. It was a great experience! I had never indexed records before - though as a daily online researcher, I'm always reaping the fruits of indexers' labors! So I decided to jump in and have a go at indexing.

I worked on records of the U.S. Colored Troops from during the Civil War. Each day, I would index at least one batch of records. A batch is a certain amount of records that can be indexed in 20 to 30 minutes. In my case, it took less time than that. The military records that I worked on will be searchable soon for those seeking their ancestors. It was super simple, and the learning curve was fast to get over. I recommend everyone try to index a batch!

In just one week, our group indexed over 11,000 records! To get your feet wet with indexing, head over to FamilySearch's indexing page by clicking here.

Connections Experiment

Starting May 1, I participated in a daily experiment to make more connections to family past and present. It's called the Family Connections Experiment. I wrote about the plan I chose and my first day's reflections on my post A Journal, A Timeline, and Family Connections. I thought it would be a helpful exercise to reflect some on who I am, and what makes me, me. And I was right; it as a great experience!

Each day, usually in the evening, I would sit down at my dining room table, and scroll down to the next prompt on the website. I loved the surprise of what that day's prompt would be, and how I might write about it. I chose to journal my reflections, and then share something of what I wrote on my Orthodox Genealogist Facebook Page, and on my Twitter account @SosonKyrie.

Here are some of my reflections on what I've learned or have greater clarity on:

• My identity is wrapped up not only in my experiences and interests, but in the people who came before me. My family isn't perfect, but I am theirs and they are mine.
• My parents did a great job at cultivating my sister's and my interests and skills. And they did this because we were and are their prized possession. 
• I have been blessed with great experiences - school, work, and travel - and with great people in my life - mentors, friends, and family. 

Some highlights from quarantine 

While isolation is...well...isolating...it doesn't have to be completely without connection. Besides the daily genealogy research I've been doing, and the daily reflections with the Connections Experiment, I've made sure to stay connected to family and friends through technology.

I FaceTimed my mom on Mother's Day, I've had virtual happy hour, virtual hangouts, and virtual game nights all during this time of quarantine.

My favorite board game is Settlers of Catan. During my time at the Greek Orthodox seminary in Boston, we played a lot of Catan. During our senior trip to Greece, we played a lot of Catan! So it seemed only meet and right to revamp our tradition by playing virtually - thanks Zoom! - during our time in quarantine. So far, we've played twice. The second time we played, I even won y'all! I was in shock.

On the last day of the Connections Experiment, I was interviewed by Sydney Orton on Facebook Live. Our discussion "Grappling with Difficult Discoveries" is available on the Connections Experiment Facebook page. You can watch the video by clicking here. 

We talked about how common it is for people to make difficult discoveries in their family history. Everyone is going to react to the same sort of information a bit differently, so we talked about some of the most common challenges a person might face:

• Parentage - unknown parentage, adoption, circumstances surrounding their conception
• Infidelity - DNA matches can reveal moments of infidelity or children born out of wedlock
• Mental health & addiction - records can reveal our ancestors were in jail, hospitals, or died by suicide or liver failure. You can read more about Mental Health, Addiction, and Genealogy.
• Race & ethnicity - DNA results can reveal unexpected or missing ethnic groups

Healing is possible through family history research, but trauma can also be relived or caused through unexpected discoveries. The best balm that I can recommend is connection - to the genealogy community, to mental health professionals, and - if relevant - to your spiritual leaders. 

*****

I value all of my relationships, so staying connected to my family and friends is super important. And I love making new connections to newly discovered family through genealogy. One of the coolest parts about genealogy conferences is that we can make new friends who are just as passionate about family and genealogy as we are. 

It's awesome to see that even during quarantine and the challenges of COVID-19, we can stay connected to others and find glimmers of hope each day.

How are you staying connected these days? Have you faced a difficult discovery recently, and if so how are you getting support?

My ancestors - and your ancestors - deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's keep encountering our ancestors through family history and remembering the past made present today!

Their Prized Possession

It's Day 5 of the Family Connections Experiment! The About Me plan's prompt for today is "picture."

On 25 August 1990, my parents took me to Midlothian Masonic Lodge 211 to get my Child Identification Card. 

The trip to Masonic Lodge 211 involved getting fingerprinted and having this adorable photo taken of me to identify me with. I'm wearing a yellow-green tank top and multi-colored shorts. My hair was still Hite-family-blonde and my cheeks squeesibly-chubby. Behind me reads, "Prized Possession."

As a little kid, my hair was bleach-blonde. My dad loved - and still remembers with pride - that I had a mullet: spiky on top, with a long rat tail in the back. One day in March 1989, when I was 18 months old, I got a hair cut. I guess it was just to get the hair off of my ears, but my parents kept some of that hair as a keepsake. It's like they knew I wouldn't always have blonde hair - or much hair at all for that matter - and they wanted to remember this moment forever.

In September 1987, I was born. I was a nearly bald, very chubby, Chippenham baby. You see, I was born at Chippenham Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. My dad was sure that the German doctor who delivered me had somehow broken me, leaving me with a cone-head. Thankfully the 1993 film had yet to come out...and even more thankfully, my head went back to normal!

*****

Going through old mementos of my childhood isn't always a happy experience. Many memories are best left in the past. 

But these pictures remind me that my sister and I were our parents' "prized possessions." Whether they were doting over our art, admiring our mud-pies or the holes we dug out back, or the birds I could identify...our parents cultivated and praised our interests and talents.

And they - like unbeknownst family historians - preserved like time capsules the evidence of their most prized possessions: their children.

My ancestors - and your ancestors - deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's keep encountering our ancestors through family history and remembering the past made present today!

I Am Theirs and They Are Mine

Day 2 of the Connections Experiment had me reflect about myself. Who am I?

The prompt for today reads:

Write about how you would describe yourself. Physically? Mentally? Spiritually? Personality? Tip: It’s ok to talk about how you are feeling mentally. Think of the healing that can happen if you share your depression or anxiety or what you worry about. Healing can come for you and for your descendants.

So I put pen to paper and reflected on how I see myself today. Here's some of what I wrote, which I hope will prove relatable, familiar, or at the very least...interesting?

Self

I don't like talking about myself. I like talking about my interests, my family, my experiences, but not myself. Describing who "Sam is" is a challenge because in the attempt is the lingering feeling that others might not see me the same way as I do. Perhaps it's fear or insecurity. It's easier to ignore the nagging self-criticism or perhaps to succumb to it. But for today, I'm laying that aside.

Physically - I ran 5 km today with a friend! I'm not as in shape as I was in January when I ran every day, but I always feel refreshed after getting fresh air and some exercise.

Mentally/emotionally - It depends on the day! Some days, during this COVID-19 mess, I feel isolated and stir-crazy. Other times, I enjoy the quiet and simplicity. I miss the freedom of going to a friend's house, of giving hugs, of getting to hold my friends' babies, of going to cafes and breweries, even crowds. I miss going to court houses and the Library of Virginia to do research.

I'm also grieving events that are postponed: weddings, ordinations, baptisms, reunions.

And then I remember gratitude. I'm not sick. I have a job. I live in a great apartment in a beautiful city. I'm paying off debt and I have food. I'm not going without.

Spiritually - Today, I read several chapters of the Book of Acts outside in the sunshine. My prayer life isn't at 100%, but Christ is risen! This is my joy and my hope.

My personality - The more I discover my family history, the more I see my parents and their family in me.

My laugh, my love for people, my intensity, my compassion. All of these are in my DNA. My gift for teaching is a gift from God. But how I speak is a gift from my grandparents.

I'm an extrovert (I'm an ESFJ & a 2 on the enneagram) yet I love my time alone to recharge. I'm intense like my parents: I love intensely, I care intensely. I laugh like my Memaw and giggle like my Grandma Nora. I'm eccentric like my dad and Uncle Art, and a bit hoity-toity like my Uncle Fred. I'm an open book and I have an open home like my Aunt Judy. I'm a talker like my Granddaddy and my Pawpaw. And I'm so much like my sister, it's a wonder we're not twins.

I am my family - the best of them and the worst of them. But they're wonderfully mine. And I am theirs.

*****

Reflecting on who I am - in light of who my family is - is a life-giving exercise. I'm reminded that no person is an island and that the best in me come from them.

How would you describe yourself? Do you see your family in yourself?

My ancestors - and your ancestors - deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's keep encountering our ancestors through family history and remembering the past made present today!