Sunday, August 23, 2009

Reluctant Genealogist

I know, I know. You are probably thinking, "A reluctant genealogist?" Yes it's true. There were several reasons I was reluctant to research my husband's genealogy:
  • I'd never done any German research and didn't want to tackle the German genealogy learning curve.
  • I knew none of his family's folklore because I obviously didn't grow up in his family.
  • The only German words I knew were guten tag (hello), auf wiedersehen (goodbye), danke schoen (thank you), gesundheit (bless you), and dummkopf (fool; idiot).
Several years before my father-in-law, George Kolbe, passed away I briefly questioned him about his roots. Unfortunately I didn't ask many detailed questions. That is really a shame because now that I am doing German research, I sure would like to be able to ask him those questions.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Michelle, I'm so glad you've started blogging about your family history - well actually your hubby's family history :-)

    I think you'll find German research very rewarding. The Germans were wonderful record keepers! I don't speak any German but have had great success finding my German ancestors in East Prussian records. Go get 'em!

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  2. Thanks for the support Lisa. If there's one thing genealogists appreciate, it's wonderful record keepers. Thanks for your podcast and encouragement to begin blogging!

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