What is the one family item you wish you had? - just for a bit of fun

[KathMc]

That reminds me. I have two attic stories. One, when one of my brothers was in law school (which was in the same town my grandfather was born and died in) one of his friends asked if he was related to my grandfather, who had died a long time ago, and when he found out, he gave my brother a box of stuff that had been found in the attic when his parents bought the house. It was a bunch of memoribillia of my grandfather. I don't know if they ever really found out why the stuff was in the attic.

And last year I found a "new" relative. He said a couple years ago he went back to the town that his father, grandparents, and great-grandparents had grown up in. His dad had told him that he remembered stuff being in left in the attic of the family home, so he knocked on the door. He said the people were wonderful, but they had remodeled about a year ago and thrown everything out. Yikes. What timing.

[Scrumhalf]

It's obvioue to Geneaology freaks    The Family Bible
  Think of all the  frustrations, wrong leads. record office visits, library visits (Anc.com is free in our local library), visits to Church of latter day saints, cemetery searches census look ups and general total time wasting including hours of computer time this activity takes, that would have been unnecessary.
It would have saved me visiting live relatives asking dubious questions some did'nt want to answer and boring the pants off them. 
One of our Family Bibles was lost in a house fire, the other lost with another untraceable relative.
But I must admit when you get a sure fire lead/connection it gives quite a buzz 

[chinakay]

We had the family Bible. Big heavy thing...I held it in my hands.

But it was mildewed and musty. My mother had become seriously allergic to mold spores, so together we took it to the local crematorium and asked them to burn it. I rescued some photos from it, but had no interest in family history then.

Just this year a cousin told me that Bible had all the family information in it And I have been able to discover next to nothing about them.

That rhythmic thumping sound you hear is me banging my head against the wall...................

Cheers,
China

[LoneyBones]

I wondered what the noise was 
Don't beat yourself too much China, we all leave thing behind as we move through life.
And you must be enjoying all the detective work or you wouldn't be here.
 
Leonie.

[MarieC]

Oh China!! 

Sympathies.  I can imagine just how you must be kicking yourself.  As I am, not to have questioned some of the oldies who would have known what lay behind my brick walls before they departed this life!

MarieC

[ninkynoo]

I'd like the box of photos that my Aunts put in my Nans coffin with her.
I don't have a photo of my Grandad (her husband) as he died before I was born and the only ones that were taken of him are now six foot under.
Probably seemed like a nice idea at the time ,but now there are about 40 grandchildren that don't know what their Grandad looked like.
Thank You to the wonderful Aunt I discovered who managed to save one of Grandads father (my Gt Grandad).

[avm228]

Frankly I wouldn't mind having even one of the *two* calf-bound Shakespeare First Folios which my g-g-grandfather had in his library.  They go for about £3 million each at auction these days...

Anna

[KathMc]

One of the things I said I would like is a family bible. Guess what? Visiting my mom this week she says to me, "Oh yeah, I found a family bible."  Unfortunately, there isn't much info in it, but I did get the marriage date, place, and priest who marriedmy grandparents, and it's just neat to have it I guess. I got what I asked for.

Hey, maybe there's something to this thread. 

Kath

[chinakay]

Frankly I wouldn't mind having even one of the *two* calf-bound Shakespeare First Folios which my g-g-grandfather had in his library.  They go for about £3 million each at auction these days...

Yeah...you could get a boatload of online genealogy done for that kind of nicker....

Cheers,
C