Ways to Help Your Family Become Enthused About Their Ancestors

“What surprised you most when you first started doing genealogy?” was a question recently asked on a Facebook post. A responder stated that she thought her family would be just as enthused as she was about genealogy but found most had no interest. Many of us could relate to this problem. Amy Johnson Crow has the answer to how to get family enthused about their family history in her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project. (projectwww.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52ancestors2018/)

Amy states that she started this project to give us weekly prompts to help us create fun information about our ancestors to share with our children, grandchildren, and extended family by weekly emails, blog posts, or even letters. Some examples from 2018 prompts with ideas to get your thinking juices going are:

· Longevity – You might write something about the oldest person in your family tree. You could explore the person that took you the longest to find. Maybe it's longevity in a job or career.
Invite to Dinner – Which ancestor would you most want to invite to dinner? Do you have a story of a memorable dinner with an ancestor? Is there a special recipe that's been handed down?

· Favorite Name – Favorite name could be a name of an ancestor that makes you smile. Perhaps it's an unusual name.

· Strong Woman - What female in your family tree has shown remarkable strength (either physical or emotional)? Tell her story.
The Old Homestead - Perhaps "the old homestead" is your grandparents' house or the house where you grew up. Maybe it refers to an ancestor who was a homesteader.

· So Far Away- You could write about an ancestor who is from someplace far away from where you live. You could explore an ancestor who migrated far during his or her lifetime. You could tell about a research experience in a distant library or archive.

· Colorful - It seems that in every family tree, there's at least one person who is a bit larger than life, someone who bold and different... "colorful." Colorful could also be taken to describe someone artistic. How about an ancestor with a colorful name?

Amy has done a great job in creating a fun way to remember your family history that will get your family members excited about learning more about their ancestors. This project would make an excellent goal for the upcoming year.