I am obsessed with my genealogy research.  I joke with Mom and say that I am going into the time tunnel and that I am competing with Hercule Poirot’s little grey cells.  I am actually thoroughly enjoying the research into my lineage.

I am not a genealogy snob, I do not care if I don’t find any high falutin’ ancestors.  Indeed I am really rather proud that we are “salt of the earth” type people because these are the people who actually make and build a country.  Many of my kin were fishermen and the sea is a cruel mistress.  My great grandparents (the Pedersen side) lost 3 sons to the sea, in 3 separate accidents.  Actually the first boy, Baltzer, didn’t die at sea but he came only with full blown tuberculosis and died quite young.  The other 2 dies at sea and the last son, our lovely great Uncle Peter, fished for quite a long time but finally settled down on land.  But many more of my ancestors went down to Davy’s Locker.

Other kin still worked on the sea, as marines, as merchant marines, as deep sea diver (my Uncle Poul, who raised many sunken ships around the world) and other sea connections.  And while these men were at sea my female ancestors were raising their children, working their gardens (and later the bigger farms), making things to sell and essentially being the heart, soul and additional provider to the family.  You can see that it the existing photos, how much older they looked than their older husbands.  But these women also had something else, they had noble, generous, tolerant and kind hearts.  I have the memoirs of one cousin once removed, Mom’s double first cousin who was 20 years older than her and both knew the grandmothers and had heard stories of their mothers.  And wonderfully, I have also heard from a cousin three times removed from my father’s side who tells of the golden hearts of both my great grandmother and his (they were sisters).  I just feel terribly proud of these women, traits that I see in my mother, my sisters and (blushingly) myself.

Revelations and comparisons of personality, characters, humour, strengths.  I just find it very rewarding and enriching.  And when I finally make a connection up the line, into the 1500’s i am just blown away with excitement.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS HOBBY, THIS CHASE . . .

My cup runneth over.