I’ve been collecting bits and pieces of information about ancestors for a while – since I was a teenager.  My mother introduced me to the idea when she took me on several clue gathering trips of her own.   It seemed to me that there was value in finding and knowing about the people who preceded me in life and shared their DNA with me, whether they meant to or not.

My kindred dead are not the only people I’ve harvested information on.  I started a couple of personal histories about myself and have kept a spotty journal over the years.  My histories are not up to date, but because I wrote them early on, they have details of my life that I have forgotten since and it seems the journal keeping has become a fine source of therapy.  The page always listens.

I was reading a speech by Amy Jensen in which she says, “We all have the opportunity and the responsibility to be record keepers.  Beyond journals and photographs, we now have at our disposal an immense system of record keeping and sharing.  Our blogs, family videos, Facebook pages, and tweets are all opportunities to inject goodness . . . into the world.  Your digital footprint – your record of experiences . . . will have the greatest impact on those who are the most important to you . . . ”  (for full speech see http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=2023)

5 WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED

1. Follow a Family History Webpage (my favorite is My Kindred Tree)
2. Make Comments on a Webpage (like My Kindred Tree)
3. Contribute to a Family History Webpage (send a picture, description, story, etc. about an ancestor to My Kindred Tree website)
4. Have a “Virtual” Family Reunion (this would be Facebook for a some)
5. Tweet, Tweet (is anybody doing this?  please share your experience)
   

   Share your pictures, documents, and stories.

It  is because of this “immense system” of sharing via computers, the internet and clever programs I’m able to connect with you and share my bits and pieces.  The world needs a little more goodness in it.