52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 6

Favorite Name

I don’t have unusual names on my family tree. Nothing I could use in a search box to help distinguish from other names. I have George, Philip, Mary, Marie, Maria, Robert, Richard, Sharon, Angela, Angie, Angeline, Dorothy, Henry. I’m the only Gayle on the whole tree. Of course, it’s not spelled like everyone else. I usually get Gail or Gale written on my coffee cup order. No matter, it doesn’t bother me like it did when I was younger. Back then, I didn’t even like my name. I would fantasize a different name like…Amanda. Then I’d have a nickname like Mandy.

Looking through my RootsMagic database, I kept coming back to the name, George. It’s my father, brother and maternal great-grandfather’s name. No difference in spelling. Dad would sometimes shorten it as Geo. That’s the well-known abbreviation of George. I always liked the name for a boy or man.

I also like the name Jennie. It sounds old, but not ancient old. It was my maternal grandmother’s given name. Growing up we always called her grandma Jean. I didn’t know her real name until someone referred to her as Jennie. When she passed away, we all found out her middle name, Sylvia. My mother and aunt both claimed them never of it. Grandma is the only Jennie on my tree.

In 1978, my husband, David and I named our first born child, Jennifer. Her name is unique. She’s not named after anyone in particular. No other Jennifer on either side of her family tree. We had a hard time picking a girl’s name. At the time, we lived in a mobile home. I would shout different names down the long hallway to see how they sounded and if we liked them.

When Jennifer was in kindergarten, my husband David and I went to our first parent-teacher conference. While waiting for the teacher to get Jennifer’s file, we strolled around the room admiring all the student crayon drawings that were displayed along the top of the chalkboard. We were shown which one was Jennifer’s. When I saw she wrote her name as “Jennie,” I stopped and stood there with my mouth open, gaping . Seeing my grandma’s name written by my little girl left me dumb-struck, unable to speak. I guess I expected she would spelling it J-e-n-n-y.  I couldn’t get over she had chosen to spell it J-e-n-n-i-e without me telling her about her great-grandma. I felt like my grandma had reached down and squeezed my shoulder, giving her approval. I think I smiled all the way through the parent-teacher conference, and give Jennifer a special hug when we got home.

©2018, Gayle Ficarra Wolcott #genealogy #52ancestors

Writing My Story

I'm getting back to writing. I signed up with Amy Johnson Crow's: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. I belong to a writing group once a month through my local society. I struggle, but the group helps me make sense of what I'm trying to say. I may not make all 52 weeks, but I'm willing to start.

I came across this great motivator from Thomas MacEntee's Twitter feed and on Facebook: 18 Writing Tips for 2018: How to Tell Personal and Family Stories with Confidence. I especially like tip number 3, Make a Time Line of Major Life Events. I really like the concept. After reading the whole article, I shared the link on my society's Facebook page and sent the link to my writing group.

I found a notebook I had and emptied out pages that had writing on them. Then I started to write down each year I've been alive. Left a page or two between each year and started adding in some of the big turning points of my life.

I don't have to write about ancestors. I'll write about whomever I want. I just want to START!

Copyright 2018, Gayle Ficarra Wolcott
#52ancestors #genealogy

2013 Jamboree - Day 3

I had another great day here at Jamboree. Morning classes started with:

8:30 a.m.
D. Joshua Taylor, "Preserving Digital Files: A Step-by-Step Guide"
Wonderful presentation. Joshua went into detail of how and when to start preserving our digital files. He shared some stories of what NOT to do and how to avoid disaster. So glad I went to this class.

10:00 a.m.
Rhonda R. McClure, Was My Ancestor Naturalized?"
Since I'm starting on researching naturalization records, this was a class I didn't want to miss. Rhonda stated when laws took effect and the naturalization process.

11:30 a.m.
John P. Colletta, "Your Immigrant Ancestors How to Discover Their True Stories"
He described the original records and published materials available along with three immigrant stories.

After lunch I perused the exhibit hall, asked a lot of questions, picked up brochures; even won one of the raffles.

2:00 p.m.
Leland Meitzler, "Researching Your Germanic Ancestors Using Online Resources"
My maternal line is German. Haven't done much German research but after Leland's class, I won't be short on websites and links. Good talk.

3:30 p.m.
Cyndi Ingle Howells, "Advanced Googling for Grandma"
This is the first time I've seen Cyndi. I've been using her website since I first started by family research. This advanced Google search left me in awe. She is just amazing. Excellent presentation!

I was able to get a ticket for the Saturday night banquet. The guest speaker was, D. Joshua Taylor, "Games, Stories, and Adventures: The Future of Family History." Enjoyable table conversations; met some great people from around California. I don't always go to the banquets, glad I did tonight.