RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Lloydy on Friday 19 November 04 10:36 GMT (UK)
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10 FAMILY RULES - (List developed by a Frustrated Genealogist)
Go Forth and Multiply
Pack up and move to a different location many times
Use names other than those given to you
Refuse to talk about your family or ancestors
Make up interesting stories that can't be verified
Make spelling changes to your name regularly (And anything else important, or otherwise)
Have many different birth dates
Do not record any kind of family information
Claim to have come from a different Country (preferably one that doesn't keep records)
Do not save any family correspondence
Jan
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One-Liners
"Crazy" is a relative term in my family
A new cousin a day keeps the boredom away
A pack rat is hard to live with, but makes a fine ancestor
After 30 days, unclaimed ancestors will be adopted
All right! Everybody out of the gene pool!
Always willing to share my ignorance....
Am I the only person up my tree... sure seems like it
Cousins marrying cousins: A non-branching family tree
Cousins marrying cousins: Very tangled roots!
Documentation...The hardest part of genealogy
Ever find an ancestor HANGING from the family tree?
FLOOR: The place for storing your priceless genealogy records.
Gene-Allergy: It's a contagious disease, but I love it
Genealogists are time unravelers
Genealogists live in the past lane
Genealogy is like playing hide and seek: They hide... I seek!
Genealogy: Tracing yourself back to better people
Heredity: Everyone believes in it until their children act like fools!
How can one ancestor cause so much TROUBLE??
I looked into my family tree and found out I was a sap..
I researched my family tree... apparently I don't exist!
I shook my family tree, a bunch of nuts fell out
I should have asked them BEFORE they died!
I think my ancestors had several "bad heir" days
I used to have a life, then I started doing genealogy
I want to find ALL of them! So far I only have a few thousand
I'd rather look for dead people than have 'em look for me
If only people came with pull-down menus and on-line help...
I'm always late. My ancestors arrived on the JUNEflower
I'm no genealogist. ... Until this year I spelled it "geneOlogist!"
I'm not sick, I've just got fading genes
I'm not stuck, I'm ancestrally challenged
I'm searching for myself; Have you seen me?
I'm stuck in my family tree, and I can't get down
Isn't genealogy fun? The answer to one problem, leads to two more!
It is hereditary in my family not to have children
Jan
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Cooking? Cleaning? I'd Rather do Genealogy!
They think that I should cook and clean, and be a model wife.
I tell them it's more interesting to study Grandpa's life.
They simply do not understand why I hate to go to bed . . .
I'd rather do two hundred years of research work instead.
Why waste the time we have on earth just snoring and asleep?
When we can learn of ancestors that sailed upon the deep?
We have priests, Rabbis, lawmen, soldiers, more than just a few.
And yes, there's many scoundrels, and a bootlegger or two.
How can a person find this life an awful drudge or bore?
When we can live the lives of all those folks who came before?
A hundred years from now of course, no one will ever know
Whether I did laundry, but they'll see our Tree and glow . . .
'Cause their dear old granny left for them, for all posterity,
not clean hankies and the like, but a finished family tree.
My home may be untidy, 'cause I've better things to do . . .
checking all the records to provide us with a clue.
Old great granny's pulling roots and branches out with glee,
Her clothes ain't hanging out to dry, she's hung up on The Tree.
by: Mel Oshins
Jan
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Thought this one was appropriate as Christmas is approaching:-
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
.....Twelve census searches,
.....Eleven possible matches,
....Ten email contacts,
.....Nine headstone rubbings,
.....Eight birth and death dates,
.....Six second cousins,
.....Five coats of arms!
.....Four GEDCOM files
.....Three old wills
.....Two CD-ROMs
.....And a branch in my family tree!
Author Unknown
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LOL Jan ;D
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:o I have always said to my daughter that "madness is inherited, you get it from your children!" :D ;D Lindy
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In your one liners Jan says
Genealogy: Tracing yourself back to better people
So thats why I am still doing this silly/great game of ours
Keith
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I've been doing this "Silly Game" for over 30 years and I have yet to find a close relly who really cares about it or appreciates it. Thank goodness we don't do this for personal glory and recognition 'cause we would be sadly disappointed. I do it for ME, I just love the knowing. I'll leave all the records I find to some institute or library to be put on- line. Some day a relly yet unborn may be happy I did this. Those living now aren't. But unlike many of them I am never bored. Leagen
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I Am Addicted To Genealogy!
When you are in a different city do you look through the phone book to find people that have the same surname as one of your ancestors?
Do you get excited when you drive by a cemetery?
Do you talk about your deceased ancestors as though they were still alive?
Does your librarian or the person that works at the archives know your whole life story?
Do you check obituaries everyday?
Does your spouse call the library to see when you are coming home?
Do you spend your vacation tracking down ancestors in county courthouses?
Do you keep pictures of tombstones or long deceased ancestors in your wallet?
Can you remember the date an ancestor died but you can't remember to feed the pets?
Instead of an emergency kit in your car you have a research kit.
Does your boss call the library or archives to see when you will be coming back from your lunch break?
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moscan, you ought to patent that ribbon youd make a mint :D :D :D
joe
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lol Joe... if only... I could do with it... the mint I mean... I am saving for my next trip to Myddleton st...and Kew and and and lol
Mo
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A few more one-liners ....
Documentation...The hardest part of genealogy
I shook my family tree, a bunch of nuts fell out
I used to have a life, then I started doing genealogy
I'd rather look for dead people than have 'em look for me
I'm always late. My ancestors arrived on the JUNEflower
I'm stuck in my family tree, and I can't get down
It is hereditary in my family not to have children
(You may recognise some of these in "Today's thought" on the SIT ;D )
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Hey Bob!! I'd forgotten I'd started this thread 12 months ago. Where's the time gone?
I shook my family tree, a bunch of nuts fell out
Describes my family perfectly!!!!!! ;D
Jan
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All I can say is you lot have me in stitches. Some great one liners, where is the comedy fanclub on this site. Had seen the 12 days doing the rounds on some rootsweb forums. Must dream up some as well!
This site is just huge and I do not have time or will power to peruse all of it. Has anybody ever done this and can it be thought of as a rootschat challenge of the year? :D
Somebody may :o
John Rowley
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I've been doing this "Silly Game" for over 30 years and I have yet to find a close relly who really cares about it or appreciates it. Thank goodness we don't do this for personal glory and recognition 'cause we would be sadly disappointed. I do it for ME, I just love the knowing. I'll leave all the records I find to some institute or library to be put on- line. Some day a relly yet unborn may be happy I did this. Those living now aren't. But unlike many of them I am never bored. Leagen
Hi Leagen
Don't give up - one day the obsession will hit one of them - My parents were researching 20 years ago & I used to smile and say "that's nice" - then I caught it :) :)
Now I must remind my husband about the "Cemetery searching" trip I'm organising for January.
;D ;D ;D
Trish
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A new cousin a day keeps the boredom away
Gene-Allergy: It's a contagious disease but I love it.
Genealogists are time unravelers.
Genealogy is like playing hide and seek: They hide ... I seek!
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Genealogy Humor ..
1. My family coat of arms ties at the back....is that normal?
2. My family tree is a few branches short! All help appreciated.
3. My ancestors must be in a witness protection program!
4. Shake your family tree and watch the nuts fall!
5. My hobby is genealogy, I raise dust bunnies as pets.
6. How can one ancestor cause so much TROUBLE??
7. I looked into my family tree and found out I was a sap.
8. I'm not stuck, I'm ancestrally challenged.
9. I'm searching for myself; Have you seen me?
10. If only people came with pull-down menus and on-line help...
11. Isn't genealogy fun? The answer to one problem leads to two more!
12. It's 2000... Do you know where your-Gr-Gr-Grandparents are?
13. A family reunion is an effective form of birth control.
14. A family tree can wither if nobody tends it's roots.
15. A new cousin a day keeps the boredom away.
16. After 30 days, unclaimed ancestors will be adopted.
17. Am I the only person up my tree... sure seems like it.
18. Any family tree produces some lemons, some nuts and a few bad
apples.
19. Can a first cousin once removed..RETURN?
20. FLOOR: The place for storing your priceless genealogy records.
21. Gene-Allergy: It's a contagious disease, but I love it.
22. Genealogists are time unravelers.
23. Genealogy is like playing hide and seek: They hide... I seek!
24. Genealogy: Tracing yourself back to better people.
25. "Crazy" is a relative term in my family.
26. A pack rat is hard to live with, but makes a fine ancestor.
27. I want to find ALL of them! So far I only have a few thousand.
28. I Should have asked them BEFORE they died!
29. I think my ancestors had several "Bad heir" days.
30. I'm always late. My ancestors arrived on the JUNEflower.
31. Only a Genealogist regards a step backwards as progress.
32. Share your knowledge; it is a way to achieve immortality.
33. Heredity: Everyone believes in it until their children act like
fools!
34. It's an unusual family that hath neither a lady of the evening or
thief.
35. Many a family tree needs pruning.
36. Shh! Be very, very quiet.... I'm hunting forebears.
37. Snobs talk as if they had begotten their own ancestors!
38. That's strange: half my ancestors are WOMEN!
39. I'm not sick, I've just got fading genes.
40. Genealogists live in the past lane.
41. Cousins marrying cousins: Very tangled roots!
42. Cousins marrying cousins: A non-branching family tree.
43. All right! Everybody out of the gene pool!
44. Always willing to share my ignorance...
45. Documentation... The hard part..
46. Genealogy: Chasing your own tale!
47. Genealogy... will I ever find time to mow the lawn again?
48. All the really important information is on that missing page
49. I researched my family tree... and apparently I don't exist!
50. SO MANY ANCESTORS...........................SO LITTLE TIME!
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Nessie - these are great! Where did you find them all!
I might have to pinch a couple of them.
sheddyg :)
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Keep checking the Surname Interests Table (http://surname.rootschat.com/)...
You may find some new ones in "Today's thought"
(and, of course, you never know who else you might find in the SIT ;D )
One of my favourites is (still)
I'm always late. My ancestors arrived on the JUNEflower
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Just for fun
My family tree needs more wood and less sap.
My family tree must be a pecan because it is full of nuts.
Old genealogist never die, they just lose their census.
Genealogy is not fatal, but it is a grave disease.
Heredity: Everyone believes in it until their children act like fools!
"Sure, a real job would be nice, but it would interfere with my genealogy!"
So many dead men! So little time!
Who's in charge of washing the Family Group Sheets?
I think I've lost all my Census!!!!!
Janet.
Moderator Comment: topics merged
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Genealogists say the funniest things!
These quotes are from copies of actual correspondence received by the
Family History Department of the LDS Church:
We are sending you 5 children in a separate envelope.
My Grandfather died at the age of 3.
Will you please send me the name of my first wife? I have forgotten her name.
We lost our Grandmother, will you please send us a copy?
The wife of #22 could not be found. Somebody suggested that she might have been stillborn - what do you think?
Will you send me a list of all the Dripps in your library?
Further research will be necessary to eliminate one of the parents.
He and his daughter are listed as not being born.
I would like to find out if I have any living relatives or dead relatives or ancestors in my family.
A 14-year-old boy wrote: "I do not want you to do my research for me. Will you please send me all of the material on the Welch line, in the US, England and Scotland countries? I will do the research.
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Hey everyone. I was wondering if this was ever a topic. My 7-year-old son came up with one today. I tried to google it to see if there was a place to look, but couldn't find it. So I thought I would start a topic here. Mind you, my son wanted to be sure he got credit for the slogan:
GENEALOGISTS ALWAYS COME TO THEIR CENSUS!!
What's yours? ;D
Kathleen
Moderator Comment: topics merged
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Hi Kath
I haven't seen a car bumper sticker, but I do have a fridge magnet that reads
MY FAMILY TREE IS FULL OF NUTS!
and underneath it is a picture of some acorns.
Take care
Half Pint
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Have you heard, Families are like Fudge; sweet but with some nuts
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Regardless of the lemons and nuts I have found,
My Family Tree is a fruit tree, the Ancestors come in Pears.
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Stalking the Dead
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8)
Just come across this! it doesn't matter who you are doing it for. The fact is that our relatives, whoever they may have been, won't have tottered off this mortal coil without being remembered, which must count for something. Admittedly, they may have the dubious distinction of being remembered only because they were 'lost' for ages, caused endless trips over the country to inspect headstones and parish records, or were daft enough to change their name or age in the census! Don't you just love them...
Also, think of the fun you have contributing to a site like this. it must have been quite lonely for those early genealogists.
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This has been one of my favourites for years....
Scientists have now proved that diahorrea is hereditory. It runs in your genes...
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Over the past 14 months or so on various threads there have been numerous sayings and quotations about researching the past. Sadly I never wrote any of them down.
I am helping someone to research their family tree and thought it would be appropriate to put a sheet of these quotations and sayings in as part of the presentation.
Recently on a YT thread Deb posted the following:-
HE WHO RESEARCHES THE PAST BLESSES THE FUTURE
What are your favourite quotations/sayings?
Cathy :D
Moderator Comment: topics merged
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Hi
I rather like the one at the bottom of this post ;D
Cheers
Caneo
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There are a lot that I like.....but the following are among my favourites....
Genealogy goes on ... and on ... and on ...
Genealogy: Better than the best adventure game, and every bit as frustrating.
Genealogy...it's not a hobby, it's an obsession!
I'm not stuck, I'm ancestrally challenged.
......dee
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....a saying I came across, in the same vein as "Windsurfers do it standing up ..." etc. :
Genealogists do it with dead people!
:o
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The mind boggles! :o
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So you start off with 1, yourself, then your parents and all your siblings and their spouses and the kids so that's 15. Then you go back to your grandparents and the grandparent's siblings and your parent's siblings 68 and all the spouses and children 74 and then it's the great grandparents and their siblings and children 109........................................................................................ 1 hour of typing later.......10 x great granparents and you find you are related to half the population.
So now it's time to start on the spouses tree
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...and then you find you are related to some of his/her ancestors :o :o
Cheers
Cando
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that reminds me...
you know you are adicted to genealogy when you ring you husband up at work just to tell him some exiting news!
That your great great grandmother's sister married his great great grandfather's brother! ;D
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Often wonder if part of the reason BMD recordings were brought in was to discourage inbreeding.
Perhaps most of the inbreeding occurred pre 1837
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Genealogists live in the past lane...
Can a first cousin, once removed, return?
A step backwards is progress to a Genealogist.
Genealogy: Tracing descent from someone who didn't.
Heredity: Everyone believes in it - until their children act foolish.
Relativity Theory: Everybody is related - if you go back far enough.
I'm not stuck - I'm ancestrally challenged.
Genealogy: Looking for threads - in a haystack full of needles.
I trace my family history - so I will know who to blame.
Friends come and go - relatives tend to accumulate.
Life: Lived forward & understood backwards.
Genealogy: Not a hobby - an obsession?
Divorce: A family tree pruning...
Moderator Comment: topics merged
Wow... merged into a topic that's over 2 years old :o
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Is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister ?
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Thought this one was appropriate as Christmas is approaching:-
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
.....Twelve census searches,
.....Eleven possible matches,
....Ten email contacts,
.....Nine headstone rubbings,
.....Eight birth and death dates,
.....Six second cousins,
.....Five coats of arms!
.....Four GEDCOM files
.....Three old wills
.....Two CD-ROMs
.....And a branch in my family tree!
Author Unknown
Its been a long time Lloydy (isn't it always in this addiction of ours !) ...
... but what did your true love give you on the seventh day ??
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Is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister ?
An impossibility as HE would be dead! ;D :D
marcie
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Seven marriage certificates :D
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Stalking the dead !
(they don't mind)
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Stalking the dead !
(they don't mind)
As long as we don't wake them
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An impossibility as HE would be dead! ;D :D
marcie
how long did it take to work it out ?
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2/3 seconds. Brains been flying high recently, all grey cells on top notch.
marcie
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Marcie Smart (_e=mc2_)
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Hi
My grandfather [b 1896] told this to me in the early 1980's just as I started reseaching his family and the source is unknown as he picked it up sometime during WW! I believe.
A GOOD REASON
A gentleman was one day visiting a lunatic asylum, and while walking in the grounds he met a patient to whom he said:
“Well, my good man, and how did you get here?”
The lunatic replied as follows:
“Well, sir, you see, I married a widow with a grown-up daughter, and then my father married my step-daughter, and that made my wife the mother-in-law of my father-in-law and my father became my step-son.
Then my stepmother, the daughter of my wife, had a son, and that boy was, of course, my brother, because he was my father’s son, but he was also the son of my wife’s step-daughter, and therefore her grandson, and that made me grandfather of my step-brother.
Then my wife had a son, so my mother-in-law, the step-sister of my son, is also his grandmother because he is her step-son’s child;
My father is brother-in-law of my child because his step-sister is his wife;
I am brother of my own son, who is also the son of my step-grandmother;
I am my mother’s brother-in-law; and my wife is her own child’s aunt;
My son is my father’s nephew;
And I am my own grandfather!!
That is why I am in here, sir.”
??? ??? ???
And we think we have problems, although I do have a branch of my tree this could apply to.
Wendy ;D ;D
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That was hilarious Wendy! ....but please untangle my brain now ;D
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Hi shan42
I am still working my way through the maze. It does seem to make sense if you spend time gradually going through it though. :P
I am surprised my grandfather remembered it as it must have been nearly 70 years at the time of him telling me and he must have been about 85-90 years old. 8)
He died aged 96 :)
Wendy :)
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Blessed are the great-grandfathers, who saved embarkation and citizenship papers, for they tell WHEN they came.
Blessed are the great-grandmothers, who hoarded newspaper clippings and old letters, for they tell the STORY of their time.
Blessed are the grandfathers, who filled every legal document, for these provide the PROOF.
Blessed are the grandmothers, who preserved family Bibles and diaries, for these are our HERITAGE.
Blessed are fathers, who elect officials that answer letters of inquiry, for--to some--the ONLY LINK to the past.
Blessed are mothers, who relate family TRADITIONS and LEGENDS to the family, for one of her children will surely remember.
Blessed are relatives, who fill in family sheets with extra data, for to them we owe our FAMILY HISTORY.
Blessed is any family, whose members strive for the PRESERVATION of RECORDS, for this is a labour of love.
Blessed are the children who will never say, "Grandma, you told that old story twice today."
Ann.
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Genealogy is a search for the greatest treasures, our ancestors.
When I searched for ancestors, I found friends.
Whoever said "seek and ye shall find" was NOT a genealogist.
Genealogy is life in the past lane.
Only a Genealogist regards a step backwards as going forwards.
Theory of relativity: If you go back far enough, we're all related.
Genealogy goes on...and on...and on...
Genealogy is a thing of the past.
Preserve the past.
Genealogy is not fatal, but it is a grave disease.
Genealogist's don't die they just lose their census.
Most of my family roots are underground.
Genealogists are ancestrally challenged.
Genealogist's diet: "Fiche and Ships topped with tantalizing Sources"
Genealogists do it generation after generation.
Genealogists do it in the library.
Genealogists do it off the record.
Genealogists do it with a computer.
Genealogists do it for the memories.
Genealogists are time unravelers.
Genealogy is T-R-E-E-rific!
Genealogy is people collecting people.
Genealogy ...it's not a hobby, it's an obsession.
I think my ancestors had several "bad heir" days.
I'm not crazy, but I may have lost my census!
I'm not stuck, I'm ancestrally challenged.
Genealogy is relative.
Kinship: it's all relative.
One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness, it is usually returned.
My family tree is full of NOT holes...it's NOT him, it's NOT her....
My roots only go down so far, but my branches spread forever.
My family coat of arms ties at the back .... is that normal?
Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.
Originality is the art of concealing your sources.
Undocumented genealogy is mythology.
Others work from sun to sun, but a genealogist's work is never done.
Sure, a real job would be nice, but it would interfere with my genealogy!
Genealogists never lose their jobs, they just go to another branch.
I only work on Genealogy on days that end in "Y"
To a genealogist, EVERYTHING is relative.
Try genealogy. You can't get fired and you can't quit!
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children -- One is wings; the other is roots!
Genealogy is a search for the greatest treasures, our ancestors.
When I searched for ancestors, I found friends.
Whoever said "seek and ye shall find" was NOT a genealogist.
Genealogy is life in the past lane.
Only a Genealogist regards a step backwards as going forwards.
Theory of relativity: If you go back far enough, we're all related.
Genealogy goes on...and on...and on...
Genealogy is a thing of the past.
Preserve the past.
Genealogy is not fatal, but it is a grave disease.
Genealogist's don't die they just lose their census.
Most of my family roots are underground.
Genealogists are ancestrally challenged.
Genealogist's diet: "Fiche and Ships topped with tantalizing Sources"
Genealogists do it generation after generation.
Genealogists do it in the library.
Genealogists do it off the record.
Genealogists do it with a computer.
Genealogists do it for the memories.
Genealogists are time unravelers.
Genealogy is people collecting people.
Genealogy ...it's not a hobby, it's an obsession.
I think my ancestors had several "bad heir" days.
I'm not crazy, but I may have lost my census!
I'm not stuck, I'm ancestrally challenged.
Genealogy is relative.
Kinship: it's all relative.
xin
Moderator Comment: topics merged
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We spend half our holidays in cemeteries, sometimes in search of relatives` graves and sometimes WW1 graves or just to say " hello and thankyou" to them all.
I know my research is not presently appreciated by my children but there may come a day when someone will be, and it will all be there for them( always assuming I get those thousands of scraps of paper in some order).
It`s a way of remembering people who in many cases have no known grave, and bringing back together family members who were spread far and wide ( on paper at least).I feel I know them a little bit.
Anyway it keeps me out of mischief!!! Viktoria.
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Geneology is fun, informative and enlightening. when you find something out which explains a lot of things about your family and yourself but at the same time can find family secrets which may offend some sensibilities and some people may deny any or all of it. It can be very emotive as a subject.
marcie
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I knew a guy once who . when accused of being a loony said "Im the only person here with a piece of paper to prove I am sane'
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You know your addicted to genealogy when........
You begin referring to cemeteries as ancestor farms and headstones as concrete evidence
you get locked in a library overnight and you never even notice
you'd rather read census schedules than a good book.
you've traced every one of your ancestral lines back to Adam and Eve, have it fully documented, and still don't want to quit
;D ;D ;D
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Aw! Lloydy,
You're restricting yourself ;D Why not demand to know why they did certain things in a certain way or tell them you are holding a party next year and they are all invited.
I've a funny feeling we've been here before.
History repeating itself! 8)
marcie
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hahahahahahahahaha,
This thread was sooo cool.
What is worse is when you work/help/run genealogy sites for years,,,,,then decide to do your TREE,,,,,and find it has already been done,,,,,on BOTH sides of your family...
Nothing left to do!!!!!!!!!!!!
People are giving you photo's and diaries etc,,,,going back to 1700's. No wonder I am Bored....LOL
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You should be so lucky, Monaro!! ;D
I've got stubborn brick walls in the 18th and 19th centuries, and if someone would give me something to crack through them, I'd be so delighted! (Sigh!)
Brilliant thread!
MarieC