Genealogy in COVID-19 Times
Coronavirus has brought social distancing and stay home orders. It suddenly has us doing things in a different way. Perhaps we are now attending to all those things that we have always been putting off into the undefined future. After tidying up your garage, and cleaning your closets and drawers, how about also tidying up your family history? In this time of uncertainty and what seems to be collapse of life as we knew it -- our families and friends come more to the forefront.
Family ties are of special value now as we all worry about our elders and people with underlying conditions. We worry about their isolation, how to protect them about their psychological well being. Maybe now is the time to ask all those questions that we thought could always wait.
We could use this time to collect stories and record those conversations. Ask about childhood, the first memory, grandparents, the first day of school, religious festivals and more. It could be a good mental exercise and a sense of belonging as we pass our experience on in the form of a story.
But how can you bring family members together while staying apart? Free applications for video calls such as Google Hangouts or Skype are a huge hit these days. Give it a try! Some even allow the sessions to be recorded. I'm reminded of the old advertisement "let your fingers do the walking." It was the telephone company's slogan for using the phone books yellow pages (1962) but it could certainly apply to us for picking up the phone and CALL that relative you haven't talked to in a while.
Will the world after coronavirus return us to our old ways or maybe create a new path? One thing is sure; our forefathers have already responded to similar crisis and the shape of the old world, as well as ourselves, were defined by their responses from the past.
We hope you are staying well, and continue to follow pandemic protocols for staying home or 6' distancing, washing hands and monitoring your health. Stay tuned in for future news and genealogy content each month that we must miss our face to face meetings!