Ever wondered where that aunt or uncle or a dear cousin that you have been meeting at every get-together and do not know the names of, came from? Have you been wondering where all those people you see at family gatherings come from when you hardly knew about their existence before?
Do not worry; it happens to the most of us, especially when we have been blessed with a large and ever-growing family. It gets really difficult to remember all your relatives and trace them back to their roots when you only get to see them at rare occasions. Families that tend to have many working members are all the more troubled by this as they hardly have time to keep a track of their existing relatives due to busy schedules.
Encountering people whom you have never laid eyes on before and not knowing how to respond when they seem to remember you while you stand there clueless and dumbfounded can be a very awkward and embarrassing situation. It also doesn’t look nice when people keep talking to you and you keep thinking, “Are we related?” It can get pretty confusing sometimes and may hurt the feelings of the relative whom you just decided to forget.
If you have been in a fix lately because of this mess, this article may just be what you need.
Family is the closest and dearest human association on this earth. Even while we were apes and had little business with anything other than collecting food and surviving each day, family had a very important role to play in our lives. It is family that we consider most important for our survival as we are bound to them not only by blood but by love. So, knowing your precious relatives and keeping track of their lives doesn’t seem like a bad idea, after all.
The best way to track down your family to the last existing relative is to start making your very own family tree. The concept of family trees has long been in existence and is still a very popular mode of recording family history. It is usually a part of school project so that children get to know their families and their roots better. Building a family tree is a work of patience and love and people like to do it so that they do not miss out on any member of their family that might have proved to be their great friend.
You can begin by sitting with your parents or grandparents who can tell you from where all your aunts and uncles and those bundles of cousins originated. It can prove to be a very exciting exercise and you get to spend a lot of time with your dear ones which is always a bonus.
Build a family tree so that the next time you meet your distant aunt, you know exactly who she is. You can wish her on her birthday or on her anniversary, thanks to the tree that you have so lovingly built. It is anyway said that planting a tree has long-term benefits and planting this one surely won’t be disappointing. You can pass it on to the younger generation who can continue this project. Who knows, you might get to know some famous ancestors, after all! Even Lincoln or Washington came from somewhere, didn’t they?