"The Book of Me, Written by You" - What have you learnt about yourself and your family?

This is a journey of finding yourself and how your loved ones see you in their eyes. Further, this can be online and carried forward to share, if you wish, to future generations.

This is a journey of finding yourself and how your loved ones see you in their eyes. Further, this can be online and carried forward to share, if you wish, to future generations. - See more at: http://joannfitz.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/the-book-of-me-written-by-you-topic-1.html#sthash.2TuO2bVu.dpuf

This is a journey of finding yourself and how your loved ones see you in their eyes. Further, this can be online and carried forward to share, if you wish, to future generations. - See more at: http://joannfitz.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/the-book-of-me-written-by-you-topic-1.html#sthash.2TuO2bVu.dpuf

The prompt for the week is:    

What have you learnt about yourself and your family?

The Brief:

• Think back to the question we asked in Week One - Who am I?
• Before you look back at the answers you wrote then, answer the question again.
• Now compare are there any similarites, it is the same, or have any of the answers changed?
• What has made the change?

• Now lets look at the wider and original question - What have you learnt about yourself and your family?
• Is there anything you still want to write and explore?

I have actually looked back and used this as an example in a genealogy class I taught at the end of 2014. I then told them about this topic and that I would add to it some more things. I wouldn't take anything out because they are who I AM but now I found I am MORE.

One of my slides I used for my course on Genealogy

The answers have changed because of adding to them. As I'm researching each ancestor, things are becoming more interesting as I'm finding out more about them as a person. I used to be mad and annoyed at my grandfather, but as I started to research I found the things he did either were the result of someone else and not his or his was the result of what someone else did to him and this is how he handled it. An example would be I was told he was a drunk. I found this was probably because of the way his father treated him and how he was kicked out of the family home at 15. This was the way he dealt with those things as an escape.

I've learned over the last 2 years, when looking at your ancestor, or yourself, look for what is going on in their life and whatever it was caused a reaction - good or bad. Another example, is my great

Jimmy's wings he obtained before he left. He died about 3 weeks later.

uncle Jimmy (I've spoken about my mother's cousin before) Sherman. He saw how scared his mother, my great aunt Florence, was about World War 2. He joined the service to protect her and other females and children in the family. All very honorable, but he ended up loosing his life in a training accident.

In fact, in my newer classes or when I talk to people about their family histories, I ask about the era and what part of the world, and then ask them about what was going on during that time. When they don't know, I tell them to research that and it usually helps with understanding what is going on with them or what the actions and reactions in later life are. Then I use the many examples of my ancestors. In fact, I pressed home this fact with my cousins recently. I spent my holiday season tracing my Belgium ancestors - the Gauquie's - back to see how far I could go. Hoping to hit the link that took the name from France into Belgium. The family story was they left because of the French

The National Assembly taking the Tennis Court Oath (sketch by Jacques-Louis David). from Wikipedia

Revolution. I was able to go back to just before that war broke out with our timeline, but I could show them via history what happened and how it influenced how far they moved. The big question was did they move because of the French Revolution? Answer is - it was probably the events just before the revolution which caused them to leave. They probably said it was the revolution because it was one or more of the causes of it that made them leave before anything really bad happened.

Another great example I use is my great grandfather Jules. He left Belgium and arrived in the US in 1888. The way he treated his wife was as, I think, his father treated HIS wife - Jules' mother, Florence. As the Belgium custom is :

"Rural women were expected to work in the fields as well as in the home. Traditional roles for men and women were observed, and any deviation was often censured. Even though it was not uncommon for widows to carry on their deceased husband's occupation, especially that of farming, it was frowned upon if women assumed a community leadership role, except on a social basis. Children also had chores to do at an early age, and gender-based chores were commonly assigned. On farms, they also helped with planting and harvest, and as a result, were often absent from school during those times of the year."

 Which is why when I found news articles about my great grandmother getting hurt with cows and
then later talking to my cousins they told me she never had a winter jacket until a few months before she died. Sounds to me it was Belgium customs. Also, could the children part be why my grandfather and his siblings didn't really go to school and they left? We know now, this was why some of the people back then did not go to school and looked down upon it.

Great Grandmother Annie Gauquie has been hurt

As if that wasn't enough, it was how Jules treated his second wife, Belle, in comparison. According to the newspaper, she got 1/3 of Jules' estate. However, family stories has it she got most of his money and land before he passed away. Then she got basically everything after he passed and the kids didn't get anything. I was annoyed at this until I found out that Jules was born illegitimate to a maid servant. This explains why Belle got almost all of his money - because he was taking care of her and her child like no one did for HIS mother. Again - action and reaction.

Jules' birth certificate listing his mother and father - the writing on the right was when he was made legitimate

Oh there's still more that I want to explore. I'm slowly starting to fill in the holes on my mother's side. My father side? Well, that's another jumble that I'll have to try to unmangle again... I think I feel a headache coming on...

  Check back for the continuation of "The Book of me, Written by You" series.