Ancestors

My Great-Grandfather, Theron Horrocks

I have just finished up a six month-long project of collecting, organizing and printing the life stories of my paternal grandmother's ancestors--all the way back to about 1800. I love, love, love reading about their lives. I have felt a close connection to one of the couples, and wondered if we would have been good friends had we not lived almost two hundred years apart. I have come to a couple of conclusions during this project:

1. Write your story! While you still remember it! While you're still alive!
2. No detail is too mundane. I would love to know what Roger Horrocks Sr. had for breakfast in Lostock, England in 1845.

3. People are just people. Women who lived six generations back from me struggled with illness, money and housework, and juggled jobs and families. Their husbands had to deal with failed businesses, stressed-out wives, and questions of faith. They also loved music, their children and their hobbies.

A 'watermelon party' my great-grandmother's father threw for her and her friends. They had to do it when his wife was out of town because she was an *angry* stepmother!

I also learned that I need to invest in my own Xerox machine. The folks at the Kinkos by my house know me way too well...