I spent a good deal of my blogging break getting stuck into trying to research our family tree.
I have loved every minute of it but my big regret is that I didn’t ask my late parents half enough about their families and their memories of times spent with them.
I know I learned a lot from them about their relatives but I also let a fair bit sail over my head and they loved sharing this information with me.
Now that we have so much down time, I would urge anyone who is fortunate enough to have older relatives to ask them about the family. It is something that can definitely lead to hours of interesting chat for all parties and can be done from a distance.
Blood is thicker than water in so many ways!
SOCIAL BRIDGE ~ Jean Tubridy connecting with you from Ireland 
I learned so much from talking to my great grandparents about their lives and childhood… I just wish that, being young at the time, I remembered more of the details.
Having great grandparents must have been wonderful, Sue.
It was indeed, Jean… and my own sons knew their great-great grandmother too.
Amazing!
I only ever knew one grandparent.
I had the full complement for my early years and great grandparents into my teens. It was amazing indeed to have a full fie generations in one room.
Did they marry young and/or live to great ages?
My great grandmother died just short of her hundredth birthday. The others were mostly long-lived too 🙂
My goodness. You have strong genes.
I certainly hope so 😉
Yes, Jean, we do wish we had those extra moments! I still catch myself thinking there is something I wish I could ask Mother or Daddy as I mull over what something might have been like. I am fortunate that when Daddy first began to talk about his memories (as he had no recollection of the immediate), I started writing them down, and my cousins and I interviewed Mother about all the family and anything she could recall, which we also wrote down.
Yes, I had a similar experience with Dad towards the very end of his life and am so grateful I was living close by so able to see him daily for a chat.
Knowing about your family is important especially about any health issues as that may have a bearing on you or your offspring ..Plus a wealth of information can come tumbling forth ..plus it’s interesting to know one’s roots…
So true, Joni.
Agree totally. I wished I’d listened to my Dad, maybe after a pint, regale us with stories of his days in Ireland. Too late now. I’ve since had Dad’s Irish side of the family tree done. As you know Jean, Irish genealogy is a difficult science – a chap up in Westport did it. Must get Mum’s story now, starting with how she was born in England, taken to see her Irish granny as a young girl, and returned some 20 years later 🙂
Your mother’s story sounds fascinating, Roy. The stuff of novels.