Rising From the Ashes

Greetings from blogger land! You thought Facebook had killed the family blog? So did I. Before Facebook, the blog was the way for us to connect with family. Then came Facebook. A status update here and a status update there. Maybe add in a funny meme or two. Instantly share photos. The best part about it is that it's quick. You don't have to log in to the blog, sit down and think of something profound to say. But, things change. This blog hasn't had a post in 3 years. Since then we've had a couple of job changes, we've had another child, and we've just generally changed. So why now? Why the blog? I'd like to say the answer is simple, but it isn't really. Or maybe it is. We've had the privilege and blessing to become acquainted with a woman who just happens to be a professor of genealogy, lecturer and professional genealogist. I should probably back up a little bit. In 2009, my aunt, Marilyn O. Reed wrote a book about our family history going back 11 generations. It's a wonderful book that starts with my paternal grandmother, Anna Carver Olsen. It chronicles her life, her parent's lives, her grandparents, great grandparent and so on. In addition to the pedigree charts tracing my grandmother's lineage, there are also amazing stories of those ancestors who left Britain and Sweden and emigrated to the United States. Marilyn's book is wonderful and I enjoy showing it to people that I meet who are interested in genealogy. Meeting someone like Claire Brisson-Banks, naturally I had to show her The Book. As she looked through it with me, she asked me if these stories and the other information in the book was on the internet and available on sites like FamilySearch. Long story short, she told me to get these stories out there and get them on a blog. So now, I'm reviving the family blog. I wondered if I should create a separate blog but then I felt that since I was going to be sharing family stories, I should just use the family blog. My disclaimer to this is that I really don't know what I'm doing. Do I tell the stories word for word from the book? Do I use Chicago Style or MLA? Do I paraphrase and tell the stories in my own words? Do I just scan them? I don't know. I'll figure that out as I go along. Hopefully along the way I'll develop the writing skills that the BS from Weber State University says I have. And, as a busy working wife and mother of two energetic girls, I'll make the time. The aesthetics of the blog will need to be updated and I'll figure that out as I go along, too. But for now, OurFirehouse is breathing again and has a pulse. It's been in a coma for a long time and is just waking up. Nobody looks good when they just get up and it takes a little time to look presentable, right? So stay tuned. In the meantime, meet Claire Brisson-Banks at www.clairebrissonbanks.com