"That got me thinking…"

My mom, who took up hula dancing, glass blowing and yoga (in her 50’s and you can read more here about why that is so awesome) has taken up genealogy. For several years she has poured over microfilm at the library, trolled the internet for pictures and census data, pestered her siblings and the older relatives left in the family, discovered “lost” cousins in Norway, corresponded with churches in England, and in general become the expert on our family history.

Over the summer, my hubby and I visited friends in Rochester NY, which it turns out is near a little place called Honeoye Falls (whose motto is, charmingly, “Come for the Charm”), which it turns out is a place where several of my forebears are laid to rest. My mom was super excited about having someone living and with a camera so close to a veritable treasure trove of pictures and data so we made a visit to the Honeoye Falls Cemetery. It was not easy to find, but once we did it was a cool experience to walk to silent grounds in search of distant relatives. We discovered several large (to my estimation) monuments and tombstones, but the coolest part was discovering a Wilis headstone near one of the Fairchild headstones. (My aunt married a Willis, and my mom has discovered that the Willis and Fairchild families had married before…how cool is that?)

I haven’t thought much about that trip to the cemetery recently, but when I do I reflect how lucky I am to have a mom who can pass on  history, so that I can know mine.

** Note:  I decided to participate in Wordpress’s The Daily Post: Weekly Photo Challenge.  The above post was inspired by this week’s theme, “Mine.” **