Yesterday at church, during Relief Society, someone announced that we were starting up an Indexing competition, to get people more involved in Family History.
I was quite pleased about this announcement for two reasons:
1. Indexing was my baby during my short tenure as Family History Committee co-chair months ago. My co-chair had a lot of family history research he could do, as his family hadn't done much of it in the past. And I, having quite a bit of our history mapped out already, waxed eloquently on the joys of indexing, which helped other people, like my co-chair, do their own family history work. We complemented each other in our interests and passions on the committee. So I am, of course, ecstatic that the current committee are investing in Indexing to get people involved now.
2. I had just indexed a batch of records earlier in the morning - I find that it's a great Sunday morning activity, since I have hours and hours to fill before 3pm church rolls around (and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep) - and I made sure to confirm that my efforts from the morning would count. The girl making the announcement said, sure, she thought the competition started that day, so why not. And I agreed. And so did the rest of my Relief Society class, when they found that the groups would be split so that we were all on a team.
I did some more indexing last night, and a little more tonight, because when you're on a roll, you should continue strong in your pursuits, right?
With the Indexing software, when you go to download a batch, a number of options pull up, with one usually noted in red, with "(highest priority)" noted next to it. I used to obediently and immediately click on that one, and suffer through whatever it was, because that mark of priority seemed to whisper to me that I couldn't possibly think of taking any other batch, as they were all of lesser importance than this one.
But recently, I've been rebelling. I must not have done enough of that as a teenager, because the thrill of acting out rushes through my blood every time I pick a batch of less distinguished importance.
Not really, but let's do pretend - it makes me simultaneously laugh out loud at the silliness of the notion and feel utterly ridiculous that I would think that's even funny.
I like a good complexity of feeling.
ANYWAY.
Lately, I've been favoring the batches that are all marriage licenses. I think I just completed a batch of marriage licenses from 1941, from Iowa. The batch before was 1939, from Illinois. Or something like that. I enjoy seeing the names of the men and women coming together in holy matrimony, the ages of the couples - one couple was 20 years different in age, and another couple were 16- and 15-years-old!
I've also been listening to an audiobook that is narrated by a woman with a lovely, captivating English accent. The novel includes a love story or two, 2 generations of mother/daughter complexities (parents just don't understand), and World War II. All this to say, creating stories of people's lives has been on my mind, and I've taken to imagining how these various couples first met, narrated in a charming British accent, of course, which makes everything better.
I tell you, it's made my indexing even more enjoyable than it already was! The stories aren't too long. Just how Robert walked down the street, eyes on the letter he had just received, when he suddenly stopped, having accidentally run into something. And Eliza Mae was the loveliest something he had ever bumped into in his life. And as Robert looked into the charming woman's smiling eyes, he knew right then and there - he was going to marry that girl.
*Seriously, read it with an English accent. So much better, right?! I love beginning made-up stories.
And just like that, I've indexed 71 records - that's 71 more opportunities for someone else to learn about their own family heritage. Someone somewhere is going to look up William Bly's name online and will find a link to a marriage record that shows William having married Martha Steene on March 19, 1941. And a whole new world will open up as they finally find the maiden name of their great-grandfather's wife, and they track down ancestors 3 generations back and find out they're part Swedish, through Martha's line. All of this, because of me.
A girl likes to be useful every once in awhile.
Anyway, all this is just to say - perhaps I need to get out more.
OR, perhaps you, too, should index. Come index with me!
No comments:
Post a Comment