Genealogy Jottings

Mother’s Day arrives this weekend, and many of us will visit our moms. We buy cards for them and take them out to brunch or dinner. In our family we also use this as an opportunity to do genealogy.

On Mother’s Day we will honor my mother-in-law, known universally as “Grandma”. She is 83 years old and has a lot of family history stored in her house and in her head.

Grandma came from Minnesota where she was raised in a German Catholic family of 11 children. Her father was one of sixteen. Consequently this presents a large family for us to research.

On Mother’s Day we will encourage her to reminisce once again about her family. Invariably she will dig family treasures out of the basement. She has kept baptism records, funeral cards, and other memorabilia. I am eager to see what else she has.

All of us will have a great time with Grandma this Sunday.