Headstone Hunting

Sunset at a Pennsylvania cemetery where I was taking headstone pictures as a FindAGrave volunteer

Recently I have been doing some in-depth research into my genealogy.  It's always good to know where you come from and know the stock of people that created your lineage, don't you think?  I have made some really interesting discoveries...for instance, I found out I am related to Johnny
Depp.  Yep...I will be expecting my invitation to his next premier soon.  Haha! 

I also found out that one of my relatives made a quilt and sent it to FDR while he was president of the United States.  He accepted the quilt and during his presidency it hung in the Smithsonian Institute.  Pretty awesome...if you are interested, you can see the quilt here.

Mostly I haven't had any mind blowing discoveries but have determined that I basically come from a long line of farmers, coal miners, and railroad workers from the Kentucky/West Virginia area.  I have discovered some pictures that very distant cousins have put on Ancestry.com so I've actually gotten to see some of their faces!

In addition to Ancestry.com, I've been using another site called FindAGrave.com to locate the cemeteries and headstones of my family members who have passed on.  Some of my ancestors did not have headstone pictures on the website, so I put in a request for a picture to be taken for a few.  About a week later, a volunteer from the website went out to the cemetery and took my requested photos!  I was so excited and thankful!  So, in return, I decided that I could give back by being a volunteer photographer as well.   It will be a nice way to give back to others doing research on their families.

I found a request for pictures not too far from me at a church in Pennsylvania.  I felt up to it today, so off I went to locate the two requested headstones.  It was a treasure hunt, but it felt great when I finally located the headstones and was able to successfully deliver the pictures to the person who requested them. 

It feels good to get out for a bit and to give back to the genealogy community.  I'm looking forward to doing some more headstone hunting in the future!

This Is Why I Volunteer Every Year

These faces are the reason I volunteer.

I am no saint, let's be clear.  

At 5:45 AM yesterday morning when the alarm went off,

it crossed my mind that I didn't want to go.

I wanted to go back to sleep and spend the day doing what I "needed" to do.

But my commitment to friends and the school pulled me out of the bed

and out the door by 6:15 AM.

It is my firm belief that EVERY child, no matter what their 

ethnic background, socio-economic status, home life, living conditions, etc. are,

DESERVE a school they can be proud of and find as a sanctuary of learning.

They DESERVE a school in top working order that is aesthetically pleasing.

They DESERVE to have the equipment and supplies they need to learn.

They DESERVE to be loved and understood by staff and the community.

They DESERVE a safe place to play away from the danger on the streets.

They DESERVE all of that, but that doesn't mean it is in the city budget to give them that.

That is where we step in.

Keller Williams and RED Day's mission is to give back to the community

and make dreams come true.

We want to leave the world a better place than we found it in,

and in this case, it was an inner city school.

We want to help create a public school where nearly 500 elementary students 

can grow, learn, socialize, and play

in a safe, aesthetically pleasing atmosphere that they are proud to go to every day.

Why?

Because every child on this planet DESERVES no less.

So all of those things I "needed" to do that were running through my mind

when I opened my eyes so early that morning...

yeah, all of those things could wait.

These smiling faces and open hearts could NOT.

So glad I went because I believe my soul was touched by them 

more deeply than theirs was by us.

xo