Last night we watched and episode of Who Do You Think You
Are. Greg Wallace, one of the Master Chef
judges was the celebrity in search of his ancestors
At first I thought it would be great to have someone do all
the legwork and just hand over the details. But then I realized that a great
deal of satisfaction is to be had in getting to that eureka moment when you
find an ancestor that you have been looking for, for ages. I have had a couple
of these special moments and wouldn’t change that for the world.
I’m fortunate that The Man, though he doesn’t share my passion
for genealogy, supports me in my granny hunting.
One of the clients I saw today told me about his father who
was very recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Generally by the time the
cancer is found it has metastasised off to other essential organs such as the
liver and the lungs. And that is exactly what had happened in my client’s case.
I’d asked him what he was doing over the weekend and he said
that he was taking his family back to Holland for the weekend to spend time
with his family. We talked a bit about loss and how people cope.
I suggested to him that if he had any questions to ask or stories
he wanted to hear then this is the time to be asking. And if his father was
amenable to it, then recording his answers to capture the sound of his voice
not just the stories.
It makes me think about my own father’s voice. I visited him
one day, recorder in hand and we spent a pleasant time chatting about family history.
That is the only recording I have because a
few shorts week later he died very suddenly and unexpectedly.
yes he did, didnt he, miss him too
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