As you view the various pages on this site dealing with genealogy, I suggest you keep a few things in mind. Each person has a date of birth, some have a date of death, and others are still living. The common format for indicating these factors is "1868-1892", "1989- ", etc. Although the dates may differ, they have a common thread, i.e., the ‘dash’.

You have a unique heritage. Many of the things that make you who you are were given to you long before you had a choice. Not just the color of your eyes or talent for athletics or music, but the ways you value nature, enjoy the company of others, etc. All these have been caught and taught over the course of your life by parents, teachers, classmates, folks in church, friends, and too many others to say.

Take a few moments to remember a few of those people who have been important in shaping your personality. It doesn’t take long to begin to recall a whole "cloud of witnesses". Can you single out just three people who have been most important to you? What legacy did they give you?

When we are working hard in the present to make the best possible lives we can for ourselves and our families, we often forget that past, present, and future are bound together in each of our lives. We each have a story to tell, a story that moves from our past into our future. The dash kinda joins our date of birth to our date of death. However, a lot goes on in between.

The above heading is "PONDER THE DASH". One definition of ponder is to consider or deliberate. As we look over the history of our families, we should ask ourselves "What took place in that persons life during the ‘dash’, and how does that affect our lives today. How do our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, affect our lives today? What were we taught by others that we use today, subconsciously or otherwise. What likes, dislikes, prejudices, etc. do we have because of our ancestors?

Now that you’ve pondered for awhile, think about how YOU have affected the life of someone else. What have YOU taught a son or daughter, or someone else’s child that they will pass along to their children.

Maybe there’s a bit of realism in the old saying "You’re just like your ______". You fill in the blank.

I hope you find the information on this site informative and interesting. If you ponder for awhile, you may even find it enlightening.

A LIGHT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

Go on in the way you are going. Leave your lights burning behind you
so that others coming after you may benefit thereby.
Perchance, your boy or girl, passing that way some day,
may point to a lamp you left and say, gratefully and with pride,
'My Dad left that light burning'.