Author: Kathleen

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History: Movies

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Week 12: Movies. Did (or do you still) see many movies? Describe your favorites. Where did you see these films? Is the theater still there, or is there something else in its place?

Movies are probably the thing I’ve loved the longest. We’ve always been a movie family. We celebrate birthdays and holidays by having movie nights. My first job was actually working with my Mom in a locally owned video rental store. That store eventually sold their business to Movie Gallery, who subsequently got rid of all the stores. That’s alright, the video rental business isn’t going to be around much longer. Everything is going digital and I guess our original owner was smart enough to get out while the getting was good!

Yes I even made a scrapbook when I was leaving, I wanted to remember my special friends! Sadly, a lot of my regular customers are no longer living so it’s really nice to have a piece of them still with me!

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They Hate Me, I Know It

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I’m pretty sure my ancestors hate me. This may be going out on a limb, but I really think that the Mays family did everything they could think of to be very deceptive about who they were and what they were doing. I’m not going to feel guilty about all the attention I was giving my Dad’s side of the family now. I’ll probably annoy you with the amount of rants I’ll end up posting here while trying to figure out the Mays line of my family tree. In fact, I’m debating setting up an Elliott/Rowan County genealogy file. I’m tempted to just go through all the available records and map out the major surnames. They’re all in my tree somewhere so it may even help me later down the line. It’s just so confusing trying to find the right people when they were all named the same thing at the same time. Last night, I had a first for me though.

That’s two death certificates for the same person. Here’s where things go squirrelly. The death certificates give different birth dates. I actually had recorded the May 28th date into my database as the preferred date because that’s the date that Walker gave on his WWI Draft Card. I’m confused that there are completely different causes of death on each certificate. If that wasn’t enough, there are even different dates of death. I’m wondering why his hometown would have a death certificate done when he most likely died at the hospital in Boyd County.

So here’s yet another reason why I am beyond frustrated trying to sort out the Mays family.

Diary of Llewellyn: March 17, 1923

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Went shopping in Newark and bought dark blue poires twill suite. Went to a St. Patricks Day party at Irene Morsers in evening. Roswell walked over with me and back. Otillie – Gus – Celeste – friend from Nutley – Carl – Roswell – Dwight – Helen Lynch & myself there. Things I received for my birthday. Ma – silk umbrella. Geo – Gloves and stockings. Pa – money. Vivian – scarf. Grandma – $2.00. La Moss – silk shirt. Miss Sweeney – silk shirt. Helen Tice – W silk stocking. Ottilie Lederer – silk stockings.

Next Entry: March 18, 1923

The Indecision Monster is Back

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I’m having indecision problems again. The problem is I’m never sure I’m doing things correctly. I’m sure the most important thing in my family file is that everyone is documented and well sourced. I’m sure that I’ve tried to do that. However, it gets very hard the more information you gather and learn. I say that because every blog or article I read all have different opinions! There doesn’t seem to be any 100% correct way to do it, which isn’t bad but what are beginnings and newbies supposed to do? I’m a perfectionist, so it’s inevitable that I’ll start second guessing myself and my methods. That’s why I’m writing here today.

If you are like me and you eventually start second guessing yourself, I have some advice. Take a break from what you’re worried about. Take a whole day off from the computer for example. Heck, I’d take a week if I didn’t think it’d trigger an apocalypse. I’m sorry for the over exaggeration, I’m addicted to my computer.

Tell yourself that it’s all going to be alright! The important thing is that you are comfortable with what you have. I’m not saying forget all rules and just merge to your hearts content, but really if you aren’t sharing your tree with the whole internet, if you are still in the process of learning and understand that… Just relax. You’ll figure it out and you can’t please everyone, so find a method that works for you.

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Preparation is Key

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It’s been a rough few days here in Maryland. Well, it’s been a rough few days for me in Maryland would be the more accurate statement. Sunday wasn’t good for me at all. It probably had something to do with the time change. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. To start off my no good day, I broke my Kindle. Insert gasps here. I love my Kindle. It’s what I use at night to fall asleep. I’m able to turn the computers and TV off and just kind of get my mind to slow down. My mind is never idle, but the Kindle helps me to slow it down enough to sleep. Well, the problem is it was under my covers somewhere when I woke up Sunday morning and I heard a definitive crack. On the outside it looks fine, well if this is what you call fine.

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