Please Remember Me:
Why I Do My Genealogy Work
In 1999, Tim McGraw had a country song titled, "Please Remember Me". Every time, I heard this song, I would shed tears. I couldn't understand why it affected me so emotionally.
Going back in memory, on 31Dec1986, my Grandfather, Ollie D Lee, passed away of complications from heart surgery and cancer.. Five months later on 5May1987, my step father, Albert Leon Hill, passed away of complications from surgery and cancer. Then, 12 days later, on 17May1987, my first mother-in-law, Ella Mae Jenkins Skinner, passed away from cancer. These were all influential family members that I missed in my life and so did my older three daughters.
My youngest children were very young when these family members passed away. My youngest daughter was 15 months old and my son was just two months old when my Grandfather passed away. The older daughters had been very close to their grandparents and would share stories of them with their younger siblings. As time passed and they grew, they ask questions about family members that we recalled often in conversation. And so, I recalled stories and family history that each one had passed on to me, and shared them with my children as they grew up.
On 6Mar2000, my youngest brother, Alfred Keith Hill, died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. On 2Jun2002, my oldest brother, Timothy Dewayne Owens, died in a vehicle accident. On 9Dec2003, my grandmother, Edith Louise Bowman Lee, passed away from liver disease.
This song still reflected my thoughts of each of these family members as their lives ended. How would they be remembered? Would the stories of their lives be remembered and passed on to their grandchildren?
We had a cousin that had been the genealogist of the family that had added births and deaths to the family tree. But it wasn't complete because there was information that he didn't know that I knew on our part of the family tree.
And so began my journey to ensure that these family members would be remembered and that the stories of their lives would live on in their children, and their children's children.
When I hear this song now, I remember my family members lives and my quest to keep their memories alive.
This is why I do my genealogy work. And in turn, my hope is that they will, "Please Remember Me."
On 6Mar2000, my youngest brother, Alfred Keith Hill, died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. On 2Jun2002, my oldest brother, Timothy Dewayne Owens, died in a vehicle accident. On 9Dec2003, my grandmother, Edith Louise Bowman Lee, passed away from liver disease.
This song still reflected my thoughts of each of these family members as their lives ended. How would they be remembered? Would the stories of their lives be remembered and passed on to their grandchildren?
We had a cousin that had been the genealogist of the family that had added births and deaths to the family tree. But it wasn't complete because there was information that he didn't know that I knew on our part of the family tree.
And so began my journey to ensure that these family members would be remembered and that the stories of their lives would live on in their children, and their children's children.
When I hear this song now, I remember my family members lives and my quest to keep their memories alive.
This is why I do my genealogy work. And in turn, my hope is that they will, "Please Remember Me."
A "quest to keep their memories alive." I love that. It is one of them many reasons I do genealogy, too. I can't wait to read what else you have to write.
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