What Does an Heirloom Look Like? Not Like This!

This is NOT a family heirloom!

Devon Noel Lee of Family History Fanatics was the guest expert for a recent #Genchat, all about downsizing with #FamilyHistory in mind. (You can learn more from her book.)

Devon posed thought-provoking questions about how to decide what to save for future generations. Judging by the relatively few heirlooms that I've inherited, clearly my ancestors did their own downsizing, starting with decisions about the handful of items they brought from Eastern Europe to America. My husband's family has been in America much longer and has had much more storage space, which is why so many interesting items have survived over the years.

It's so hard to say goodbye

During #Genchat, we had a lively discussion about how difficult it can be to let go of inherited items, especially if they provoke strong emotions about people, places, and events from our family's past.

Still, if we downsize thoughtfully and carefully, we can focus the next generation on items of special significance to our family.

Also, there was a lot of conversation about photos. My take-away: I have to get back to scanning, captioning, and dating as many photos as possible now. Otherwise, descendants may never know who's who.

My little red bench

I do have a number of heirlooms to pass to the next generation. That doesn't include the item in the photo at top. It's a wooden bench about 6 inches high and 12 inches long. Originally, the bench was red with some cutesy saying or song on the top.

As toddlers, Sis and I each had one of these benches, which we put next to the sink so we could reach to wash our hands. This bench has been repainted more than a few times during its long life, moving to ten different homes with me over the years. I'm not particularly attached to it. It just takes up little room and is handy to use whenever I need a step up.

However! No matter how many years it's been with me, I definitely don't consider this bench to be a family heirloom. It has no special significance, other than being a useful little bench. After I join my ancestors, someone else can repaint and reuse it or retire it--guilt-free.

Future Family History: The Upside of Being Inside During a Pandemic

Testing whether a video can be embedded in webinar

Dear future generations: More about living life during the novel coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Here are highlights of the final week in March, spent mostly indoors.

Genealogy galore indoors

The upside of being inside: Plenty of time for genealogy!

Katherine Willson, head of the Virtual Genealogical Association, was kind enough to help me with a test as I prep for my webinar, "Curate Your Genealogy Collection--Before Joining Your Ancestors!" scheduled on November 24th.

I wanted to embed one or two brief (30-second) videos into my webinar. My hubby videoed me showing off an archival box with a scrapbook of World War II letters. I talked about labeling the box on two sides, and keeping the scrapbook safe with archival tissue paper between the pages.

Unfortunately, it turns out video can't be embedded in a webinar (we tested without success, then asked Thomas MacEntee, who explained the technical reason why it won't work). So instead, I'll include photos and do a voice-over during the webinar.

Another upside to being inside: Time to binge-watch genealogy webinars! As a VGA member, I blazed through several previously-recorded webinars, printing the handouts for note-taking as I watched.

It was so much fun participating in both the Friday and the Saturday #Genchat Twitter conversations about downsizing with genealogy in mind (guest expert: Devon Noel Lee of Family History Fanatics). Also I enjoyed this week's #AncestryHour conversation on Twitter.

In addition, I'm watching the MyHeritage webinar marathon, little by little, a great opportunity to learn from the experts!

Meanwhile, outside...

One early morning, I scraped ice off my car and went to the supermarket to take advantage of "senior-only" hours (ahem, I barely qualify, right?).

In the pre-dawn hours, I wiped down my shopping cart with disinfectant and walked through the aisles, rarely seeing another shopper. Happy dance: disinfectant spray was back on the shelves--limit 2 per customer. I bought 2! Fresh chicken in the meat department, no beef for stew or meatloaf. Lots of produce. No toilet paper in stock, but none needed for another month at least ;)

After loading my cart to the brim--ready for two more weeks of staying indoors--I checked out, standing a safe six feet away from the customer in front of me. At home, I unloaded everything and wiped all packages down with disinfectant, just in case, then showered and washed my clothes and coat. Whew.

This was the only time I got into the car all week. Hubby and I walk around the block on sunny days, greeting friends and neighbors from a safe distance.

This will be the rhythm of our days until late April, when I hope New England will be past the apex of this awful coronavirus crisis.

Readers, please stay indoors and stay healthy!

RootsTech Day 2: DNA Again, Photo Clues, Parish Chest, Expo Encore

On Day two of my very first-ever RootsTech, a real highlight was catching up with Devon Noel Lee and Randy Seaver just before his guest appearance at her Family History Fanatics booth. I read their blogs all the time for ideas and inspiration.

My first breakout session was Tim Janzen's excellent and timely "Update to 3rd Party Autosomal DNA Analysis Tools." Lots of new news. He recommends that we try Gedmatch Genesis for more detailed matching/analysis tools and compatibility with key testing companies. Also he noted DNA Painter won an innovation here at RootsTech (I haven't used it yet but I liked what he showed as a sample). So many good tips, I haven't got room here. Just know that our genetic genealogy toolkits are expanding every week!

Next, I walked out of a session that I won't name, because the speaker spent loads of time on background and didn't get to the point even after 12 minutes. This is something I really don't like doing, but RootsTech time is valuable and scarce. I did use the feedback tool on the app to express my opinion. Enough said.

After lots of fun in the Expo Hall (buying RootsTech sox, a sparkly gen T-shirt and of course DNA kits), my afternoon began with Maureen Taylor's interactive session, "No Language Barrier: Immigrant Clues in Photos." I always like her talks, and this was enjoyable and motivating. She reminds us to look carefully at fashions and hairstyles, also see what ancestors are holding (a photo or a book for instance), see what clues are in the background, think about why the photo was taken, and research the photographer. We had a good time guessing on many photos, and helped Maureen with a few new interpretations/translations, too.

The final session of the day for me was "Finding Your Way Around the Parish Chest" with not one, not two, but three expert speakers: Kirsty Gray, Sylvia Valentine, and Patricia Whatley. Learned a lot at this talk--starting with how much info is available if ancestors were paupers (yes, I'm talking about hubby's Slatter ancestors). Often the parishes would try to hand paupers off to other parishes rather than bear the expense of keeping them going. Will have to look for more paperwork in the parish chests!