A little over eight years ago I started doing research on my father’s side of the family. Nortel Networks had a genealogy club so I joined and got some tips. I decided to start with my grandfather. I had information on him from my father’s birth certificate. I went to the genealogical section of the Dallas Public Library and ran a search on the Social Security Death Index and sure enough, he had died just four years earlier. I was sad, but encouraged to keep searching. I sent for his death certificate and voila! The informant on his death certificate was my uncle – his name and address.

I flew into the Bay Area on Christmas Eve, bought a map and drove to his house. I knocked on that door and the rest is history. I now have a brother and two uncles I didn’t have before. Not to mention cousins and more cousins and just the joy of having more family and friends. This is one way that family genealogy can affect your life directly.

It is an interesting past time and I would encourage you to research your family history also. There is little else as interesting.