Lucky

When I read that week 11's prompt for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor challenge was "Lucky" I had no idea what I was going to write about.  I don't know of anyone in the family that is particularly "lucky" or fortunate.

And then it hit me...I am the lucky one!!

I am lucky that I have been able to connect with so many distant cousins.  Cousins who have been researching our family for many, many years.  Cousins who have been willing to share photos and stories of our ancestors.  That I have had people answer my messages on Ancestry.  That I have had people answer my messages through Facebook.  I am lucky to be getting to know these distant cousins I would never have known if it weren't for my family search.

I am lucky that I have a trunk full of photos from my grandma Phyllis.  Photos of her parents and her mother's parents.  I am lucky that I received a bunch of letters my grandpa Roger had written to my grandma while he was in WWII.  I am lucky that my dad picked up a box full of documents belonging to my grandparents and my great grandparents.

I am lucky to live so close to the Minnesota Historical Society and to have a best friend who has also caught this genealogy bug and is willing to spend hours searching for birth certificates, death certificates, obituaries and newspaper articles with me.

I am lucky to be getting to know the men and women who came before me and helped make me who I am.