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Week 52: Me, myself and I #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

Looking back from a future I will never know, what will my descendants know about ME?

I will have left quite a substantial family tree for immediate future generations, if they are able to access it, so they will know that at the very least I was the family historian/storyteller. My children know quite a bit about my early life and we are close, so I feel they know me well. If they have children, will they pass on what they know? Will their children even be interested? And as for generations after that, the immediate knowledge will diminish and may even be lost sooner than I think. I can't start to imagine the amount of information I could have had even about my own parents had I thought to ask them while I still could, never mind my grandparents or great grandparents. Lives all gone, lifetimes forgotten.

And what have I discovered about MYSELF in doing this #52ancestors challenge?

I have learned that I like the discipline of 'having to' produce a piece of writing on a given topic. Taking part has let me share stories I had already discovered and also do deeper research on others to learn their tales - and I enjoy that very much. I also have learned that although it is great to write and share stories with others, it is also fun just doing it for MYSELF. 

So, how will #52ancestors affect what I do next?

Firstly, I intend to try and keep up the challenge in 2024. It could be that I will run out of stories to tell or it could be that I have to look further into the branches on my tree to find new ones. I know that even if I don't manage another 52 I will keep writing on my blog, the first blog I have ever written!

I'd like to thank Amy Johnson Crow for organising #52ancestorsin52weeks and of course I'd like to thank each and everyone of you out there, who have come across any (or all 52!) of my blog entries. Maybe I have inspired some of you to to research your own family. You don't have to build a tree or blog. Just ask questions and discover the stories!


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