Family Success Through Linked Generations
Aletta, Nathan, and Monika at RootsTech 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah
I had the privilege of attending the RootsTech 2020 conference here in Salt Lake City last week, and in a multitude of presentations covering topics such as Danish genealogy, Dutch vital records, and the future of family, I was reminded of the power that comes from being connected to family. Some of those family connections were immediate for me, as I was able to share the excitement of the genealogy conference with my wife and my eighteen year old daughter who, through some quirk of fate and marvelous parenting, has found an interest in searching out her Dutch ancestry. Other family connections stretched out from the stories I’ve been told all my life.
I grew up in a family that was blessed with knowledge about our family identity. I am the youngest of six children in a family headed by a master family historian. For more than 50 years my father has searched out his Day family ancestry, chasing them across Washington, Oregon, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Kentucky, only to reach a frustrating dead end. Over that time and distance, he filled the family tree with more than names and dates, but with stories that breathe life.
One of my earliest memories of being involved in genealogy was a family trip to rural Oregon -- Lost Prairie -- to be exact. Besides spending the long drive together we walked through an old farmhouse on the homestead where the Day family lived after they came West along the Oregon trail. I remember it being more rotting wood and dirt than anything else. Along with the stories of that old farmhouse came other stories of marrying school teachers, a lynch mob, ranching, farming, and many other stories that I have heard countless times until they are more than just the story of my ancestors, but I part of who I am.
Russell M. Nelson explained, “When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves. Our inborn yearnings for family connections are fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors…” I love that description. I feel connected to many of history’s events because of the stories of my ancestors. A connection to the founding moments of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Battle of Antietam in the Civil War, the Mormon and Oregon Trails all because of the lives of family members from generations before me. And through the lives of my wife’s ancestors, connections to Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, to World War II, and ocean crossings.
I believe that placing ourselves in the history of the broader world, and understanding who we are as a result, plays a vital role in our mental health and success in life. Bruce Feiler wrote in a 2013 New York Times article, “The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.”
While my parents and siblings would probably think me a little over the top with my idyllic image of the family I grew up in, I believe that my feelings of family success, control, and self-esteem come from the stories handed down through the generations, and ultimately from my Dad to me.
And so I have the audacity to attempt a blog, dedicated to topics surrounding the linking of generations, both living and dead. If nothing else, it will be enjoyable for me, but I also hope that it is a blessing to you and your family.