I keep typiRootsTech-appng and retyping the title of this post. I don’t want it to be about me– but I want to offer a sounding board for others. Everyone seems to be buzzing about genealogy these days (have you tried Relative Finder?  It’s amazing!). And I live in a place where drawing your family tree on the chalkboard in Sunday School has always been the norm.

But let’s take just a minute to acknowledge the unspoken truth– some people come from families that aren’t exactly brag-worthy, some didn’t glean knowledge and values from their grandparents. Some are desperately trying to break a cycle of neglect and/or abuse. While everyone talks about their family walking across the plains, I strongly suspect mine might have been the ones who chased them out of their homes in Missouri.

As one friend said, “I’m sure I have some good relatives; I just need to look past the generations who’ve hurt me.”

In general, how can we get excited about genealogy when when the relatives we know have let us down?


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