LOL! Yup, I Forgot My Blogiversary Again.

LOL! Yup, I did it again. That's three years in a row I've forgotten my blogiversary.. That's all right. Life has been beautifully busy. You probably have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. I decided that I needed to take a break from posting to just live. You know what it's been a blessing. I feel refreshed.

I began this blog on May 30, 2011 to document my genealogy findings regarding my family. So many stories and people I have discovered along the way. Every story has taught me something. My first post, Okay...Here We Go! LOL was an example of me taking a leap of faith. Trying something new can be incredibly scary. A journey however begins by taking a single step and so I began. 

So many steps later, here I stand. I may not write as often but believe me, I am still researching and making discoveries. I love genealogy and that will always be a part of me. 

What's great about a blog is that you can go back and revisit the places you've been. Since so many of my family members have passed on, I take comfort in looking at old posts and re-reading stories and peering over pictures. One of my favorite's is My Grandmother, A Woman Ahead Of  Her Time? Not a day goes by that I'm not thinking about my maternal grandmother Mary Horton. She had a pioneering spirit. Color never held Mary back from doing anything. She'd walk into any room and holding her head up high. With that big beautiful smile of hers she'd say enthusiastically, "Hi!" I've been sharing my memories of Mary with her great granddaughter so she too can grow into a confident woman who can walk into any room and not care what other people think. She will be a force to be reckoned with.

Oh my goodness...I just re-read Happy Birthday To Me! I Am Forty.  I love the advice that people left for me in the comments. 
I paused over the advice of a fellow genealogy friend who has since passed on. Thank you, Sandra. I am following your advice. You were so right, "Be true to you and everything else will fall into place."

I've shared information about my direct family line. I've also shared many stories of folks on the extended branches of my family tree.  The first Civil War pension file I ever ordered was for my 2nd great grand uncle Augustus Whitney. Augustus Whitney was a member of 35th U.S. Colored Infantry, Co. D. His frustration regarding how difficult the government made it to obtain an increase in his pension could be felt in a letter I featured at the end of my post, Juneteenth Junction: Paying Tribute To Augustus Whitney. I am very proud of this man's service and his strength in character. 

Others who demonstrated tremendous strength in the face of adversity would include my 2nd great grandmother Rosa Mitchell Jones and my great grandmother Carrie Whitney Harrison. These women held their families together during the toughest of circumstances. In Rosa's case it was the death of a spouse while for Carrie it was the loss of an entire neighborhood due to a terrible fire.

This has been a place of ancestral stories but it has also been a place where I can share my own little family's story. I love looking back at how young my babies were when I first started writing this blog. 

These extraordinary people are my best work. I am so excited to see where their stories lead.