JJ
Spike Milligan the British writer and comic used the quotation for a book..I always thought it worth a smile..thanks.

Anything that makes one smile, has value and worth!

My mom and grandmother compiled an extensive genealogy record. I wasn't interested until the last few years. My mother also had a cousin who did a lot of research at the courthouses. Between the three of them, there is a lot of priceless information. It is fascinating to find relatives who fought in the Revolutionary or Civil War, and facts like that.

Sometimes it's hard to get correct information when you start going several generations back. My mom and grandmother did all of this before computers. I've never really had luck finding ancestors with the online resources, either. It seems like with some of these sites, you have to pay a lot and still don't find what you want.

But I'm a complete beginner at genealogy, too. Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing.

You also mention feeling nostalgic in another post.I am in the midst of research at present and feel empowered when I see the lives of those who came before.
Speak to older family members look at photos see if dates are written on the back and start from yourself..in UK there are heritage groups who assist..The LDS have good resources..but Scotlands People have censcus and births deaths and marriage info.so wherever you are will have facts.also military records..
there is a theory that says how happy we are now reflects how we see the past..main thing is to work on the here and now making every day special for you.
My family tree has enriched at times made me sad also when I see lives all too short for some long gone child..but the sheer pride in seeing a pathway back to 1660s is so uplifting.

Mountain Ash,

Thank you for the advice. It sort of makes you feel close to the ancestors that you never even knew. You get inspiration from their lives - how they came through some of the hardships and what kind of people they were. I love looking at the really old pictures we have.

Thankfully, my 93 year old mother is still alive and has been telling me a lot about the pictures, and I have been writing it down.

Whats a good site to look on for that? I would like to find out more!

I think speaking to someone locally who has completed a family tree will advise you best.
Depends where your people came from.
I use Scotlands People...church records and Ancestry which allows you to find others researching the same people...mixed thoughts about Ancestry

Others tell me Genes reunited has been good for them.

coffeemom, have you considered video taping your mom, sorta like an interview? I think it would be neat to do that.

I traced my mom's roots on her mother's side. It was an amazing project that helped me better understand my mother and the events that had impacted her life. She really did not talk much about her life - it made her so sad. When she died I decided to create a book about her heritage. It was a project for a class I took in college - but it became a healing project that gave tribute to her life. Anyway, the outcome was amazing and also healing for me. I found relatives I never knew I had. One lives in Salt Lake City and is LDS. She had researched this side of the family tree and sent me documentation stating our tree goes back to the 1700. The book sits on my coffee table. I hope to do the same for my deceased father as tribute to his legacy.

The better understanding I can understand.And healing yes I agree.
I saw how my Mother had lost her baby sister when she was under five.Imagine to see ahd learn about a sister then have the absence.Have a grieving Mother and Father.Everything that surrounds a person has an impact.The times people lived in.

I also see how industrial landscape causes difference..Town and country.I have long country farming background..my husband has industry.His forbearers from Ireland and potato famine..His Father was political perhaps due to higher ability to access to literacy..and working conditions needing improved.My folks tended land..Some emigrated..The wider social conditions for differing generations are a big project for me..which King or Queen..what religous tumoil was going on in Scotland at for one generation .Murder of an Archbishop locally for example.Most interesting is the well documated witch hunts in one town way back..I have gained in all ways by tracing my roots.