Genealogical glass houses!

Something I heard on television a few weeks ago really got me thinking. 

"People who live in genealogical glass houses shouldn't throw stones." 
(Jennifer Mendelsohn, genealogist. AM Joy MSNBC, January 20, 2018)

First of all, please let me make one thing clear. This is not a political opinion. It  is something that I have gradually learned during my many years of family research. Genealogists see things differently and because of this maybe genealogy should be a required subject in school. See Jane. See Dick. See Jane's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, . . . .well you get the picture. Makes sense to me.

But here is the thing -- we all live in genealogical glass houses. No one can escape that fact. If you're an American, you live in a genealogical glass house. You can ignore it. You can refuse to believe it, but family history is your family story. It is His Story, Her Story, Our Story, Their Story, Your Story. Get it? It exists whether you want it to or not.

                   [Please take a 10 minute pause to meditate on this and please learn from this.]

Yes. We all live in genealogical glass houses. We need to understand why and where our ancestors lived. Did they stay or did they move. Were they immigrants? Did they own slaves? Were they slaves? Were they harassed because of nationality? 

Can you change your family history? No!
Can you learn from it?  Yes!
Can you treat others as you wish your ancestors could have been or were treated? Yes!

Read.
Learn.
Understand. 

And the best way to learn about and understand the future is to research your family's past. 

It's not to late to research your family.