Family history treasure trove out of the bluePosted by Administrator on November 17th, 2009

From out of the blue, I have happened upon a treasure trove of family information from my father’s side. Last night, I just happened to be talking to my little brother about learning more about our genealogy. We know our father’s family comes from England, Scotland, and Prussia. We know some of them immigrated to America aboard the Mayflower. But as far as names and dates, we were clueless. There was a Cherokee princess in there somewhere, but that was about it.

As result of our conversation, my little brother happened to bring it up when he was talking to our father this weekend. That’s when my father, who has done a substantial amount of family history, passed him a file of hundreds of names and dates. In one fell swoop, we were able to get better acquainted with several generations, where they were born, where they were married, and where they died. There are uncles and aunts in there, too. 

Sometimes, to get started, I guess all you need to do is talk about it. Parents and grandparents can be an invaluable resource in getting started. Sometimes your questions can spur something they had forgotten. Something is bound to come up. Pretty cool, huh?



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3 Things Families Should Be Thankful ForPosted by Administrator on November 13th, 2009

Okay. Just to set the record straight, before November contained a holiday dedicated to turkeys, the New York City Rockettes, and football, there was this thing called Thanksgiving. The point of this holiday- no kidding- was to give thanks for all of the blessings we have. 

 
Now, maybe giving thanks is outdated. Maybe it’s just not sexy enough for the advertisers. I mean, after all, if you are thankful for what you have, how can they make you lust after all their new products? Maybe. But I’m one person who still believes in giving thanks for what I have. And family is one place where I think we should all be especially grateful.
 
To get you in the mood for Thanksgiving (not Turkey Day), here are 3 things families should be thankful for:
 
1. Time together – You’ve probably noticed that things are getting busier. With unemployment still growing and the cost of living still rising, parents are finding it harder to find time to spend together. Be grateful for the time you do have together and make the most of it. It doesn’t last forever.
 
2. Love and support – True friendship and unconditional love are hard to come by. If your family members, even with all their flaws, have been there for you during hard times or good times, be grateful for them.
 
3. Shared heritage – There’s something special about knowing there is a group of people out there who have the same genetic information as you, the same parents, grandparents, the same features, the same weaknesses, the same strengths. You can’t find that kind of relationship anywhere else.
 
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope this post helps you reflect more on things you’ve been blessed with and less on, say, football or cranberry sauce.

 



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Teaching Kids Values is Parents’ JobPosted by Administrator on November 9th, 2009

The other day I read an article about parents up in arms about the increasing amount of trashy material on TV. They griped about why this commission or that board isn’t doing something about this. I read another article about a community torn about how to teach sex ed. Still other articles talked about the actions of community organizers to curb gang violence. As serious as these topics are, I had to laugh. 

 
Why would I laugh at such a thing? Because somewhere along the line, our society got it into our heads that someone else was in charge of our kids’ moral development. We thought that it was just another thing we could outsource in our busy lives. "I’m doing all I can," we like to tell ourselves. "Darn that TV for showing my kid how to swear, cheat, and kill people."
 
I want to say it bluntly so there will be no mistake: parents are in charge of instilling values. It is not the job of a board, a teacher, a commission, the police department, the armed forces, or any other external organization. Studies have found repeatedly that children who receive consistent training in values are much more likely to adhere to and return to those values as they go through life. 
 
Take me, for instance. I grew up East LA- not exactly Mayberry. In fact, gangs, drugs, promiscuity, and violence were rampant. And I do not use the word ‘rampant’ lightly. These things really were everywhere. It would have been easy for my parents to excuse themselves and say, "What can I do against influences like these?" It would have been easy for them to blame the schools or the media if we went bad.
 
But they stuck with it. They taught us right from wrong. When we did go wrong, they straightened us out really quick. 
 
The result: not one of us ever took drugs or participated in gang activity. In fact, we all went on to get college degrees at top tier universities and have upstanding families of our own.
 
How did this happen? I can tell you it had nothing to do with what was on TV or what we saw at school. It was because of the tireless work of our parents. 
 
It’s time we rethought our tendency to look for the media or government for moral guidance. The bottom line is, they are motivated by ratings and votes… period. It’s time we took responsibility for raising our kids squarely back into our hands.


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