Find A Grave

About ten years ago I stumbled across a website called Find A Grave.  It is a free website associated with Ancestry, possibly started by the same person.  For about nine of those years I was a "member", I dabbled with it until I began discovering family members.  Over the previous year, I quickly began connecting the dots on the family history: who was married to whom, dates born and died, where they are buried, and a whole treasure trove of information.  As I fell down the rabbit hole of genealogy, I discovered the tools at my disposal through the interactive site.  One of the tools is the Suggested Edit tab, in which I can fill in information and connect family members to one another: parents to children, husbands to wives, where they were born, and so much more.  In fact, I've taken the process far beyond the initial personal goal of finding kinfolk.  As of right now, I have a little under 8,000 memorials I manage and am slowly, but surely, working my way through those under my auspices.  Personally, I believe every person deserves the dignity of attention and respect, even in death.  No one should be forgotten.  Unmanaged memorials are quickly gobbled up for just such a purpose.  One discovery was my relation to the vaunted Bass family in Fort Worth.  Of course I am so distantly related, I'm sure they don't care who I am.  Another fun experience was to find the date of death for an individual as "Not Soon Enough"!  Wow, that must not have been a healthy relationship.  Ha ha!  As I continue to work the site, I find other avenues of adding value to the many profiles listed.  I'm having a blast with the newfound hobby and have been consumed by it.  If you're ever curious about your family history, take a look at Find A Grave.  It's free and may lead to some interesting discoveries.  Happy hunting!

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