Nestled deep in the midst of autumn right after the time change might seem a cozy moment to forsake all technology and curl up with a good book for the evening. After all, by 7:00 p.m., it already felt like we were approaching midnight. Well, despite that dreamy pumpkin-spiced notion, I got my wish, but not by choice. It was by wifi fiat: our Internet went down.
With no online access comes no chance to research. And for this genealogy guinea pig, no chance to research means no post. It all kinda brings to mind those pre-Internet research days when the only way to look up records was to plan a trip to the specific repository representing the hope of finding the right answer to our family history questions. My, how things have changed—at least when our technology company of choice doesn't encounter problems.
A little reminder of how good we have things...something I'll appreciate, I'm sure, once I get over the immediate frustration of lack of access.
In the 1960s through the 1980s, my mother began her genealogy research. She wrote hundreds (or maybe thousands) of letters to libraries in various parts of the country asking for a copy of phone book pages containing certain names. Stamped self addressed envelopes were included. I am amazed at the number of responses she got. Next step was writing to the people on those phone book pages, detailing what she was looking for. And after over 20 years of doing this - she hit the jackpot by finding a descendant of the people she was researching. She certainly would have loved the Internet and it's research possibilities!!
ReplyDeleteNow that's persistence! What an inspiration, Sara. Yes, imagine what your mom could have done with the tools we have at our fingertips now.
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