On the eve of my dad’s 80th birthday, I found myself reading the first 25 or 30 pages of the Bicentennial History of Mingo Junction, Ohio 1770-1970 which I found online at one of my favorite family history resources: The Digital Shoebox Project. Mingo is the town where Pop was born and raised.
After reading about those treacherous beginnings for the original settlers in the area of my boyhood home and thinking back on one half of my dad’s life to date, the nostalgic feelings to connect with those who passed before were once again aroused within me. It probably also helped that my sister just recently called two days ago with some questions about our family tree after discovering that her husband’s ancestors may have lived in the same area as our own more than a century and a half before she and her husband met.
A few months ago, I did a major overhaul of some of my other web presences (unrelated to genealogy). I had a notion to do the same with the genealogy site, but didn’t act on it at the time. But reflecting on everything above, just a few short hours before my dad’s milestone birthday, something internal told me the time was right. So I am in the process of moving the family history pages over and creating this new blog to go with it.
Be forewarned, this blog and the associated pages may not be updated regularly. And it will undoubtedly take a few weeks at minimum (probably more) for me to iron out the kinks and move past the growing pains of updating, transferring, and tweaking the information on these pages. I have no idea how many folks found their way to the old site or how often any repeat visitors came back. So if any of you stumble upon the new page during this transition phase, please excuse the mess.
If I am to do this right, it is going to require more than just slapping on a coat of paint and some new window dressing. So, let me wrap up this inaugural blog post and get down to the nuts and bolts in the few hours of weekend that I have left.
Oh, and Happy Birthday, Poppa Luke! Love you lots!
KemvishanenccallThank you for being able to conquer those past memories & thank you being able to be so constructive with your words, your mind & your heart.