As I opened my genealogy software this morning to add my brand-new nephew, Michael (born yesterday), to my family tree, it got me thinking. We spend a lot of time going backwards in our genealogy research because it is fun, but many of us neglect tracking down living descendants and collecting personal stories (including our own) because it is more tedious. Yet, these are the parts of our family tree where we can have the most impact!

Genealogy of the Present
Some of my best genealogy finds in recent years have been made by connecting with distant cousins - not the cousins I already knew about, but the second, third and removed cousins that I didn't. In many cases, I've gone back to my great-grandparents and then traced every child down the tree to their living descendants (at least as many as I could find). This has taken quite a bit of detective work, and untold hours spent in census records and cemeteries, but has yielded such wonderful discoveries as old family letters, photos, handwritten family trees, and even a family bible. Each branch of the family tree seems to hold new pieces of the puzzle, plus I've made lots of great new friends!

Genealogy of the Future
I'm sure all of you have days that you wish you had photo albums, diaries, and oodles of family stories passed down to you from your distant ancestors. I know I sure do. Yet, I've documented very little of my own life for my distant descendants. It always seems as if there is plenty of time. Right now, I'm too busy chasing down ancestors, chasing after kids...you get the idea.

Start taking some time out of your genealogy research to contact living relatives, document family stories, and label your family photos. Your descendants will thank you.

Related Resources:
Keeping Cousins Straight
Journaling Your Memories
Gathering Oral History
Strategies for Finding Living People