Combining and Gathering Genealogy on Vacation

Submitted by HOST GFS Grace@aol.com

My daughter moved to Maryland a few years ago. When I went to visit, I told her that I would like to go to the Archives in DC, and to see all my favorite sites. My granddaughter Megan was sitting there, and she remarked, "Oh, Grandma, can I go?" I looked at my daughter to see if she would approve of it, and when she said that she thought it would be a great adventure, I called the train station to get the information on the schedules. I did not want to drive, and the train takes you right to where I could catch one of the many buses circling DC. Megan was overjoyed that she could go. 

I warned Megan that I had a lot of looking up to do, and I did not want her to get bored. She only asked that we go to the Lincoln Monument, and I assured her that we would. I cannot remember ever not going to that magnificent memorial. Megan had grown to be a Lincoln buff as much as I am. I also told her that there was another one I had to go to right across from the Memorial. I had to visit the Korean Memorial. I explained that there was a piece of our own family history connected to the Korean War Memorial. My brother John, USMC, was KIA in Korea, and told her that he was an important part of my life.  I was disappointed that the computer was not up and running so that I could print out a picture of John for Megan, but told her that I had one that the Memorial Commission had sent me and that I would send her and her Mom a copy.

The first stop on our sojourn was to the Archives. I had to get some census and I needed to find out if  I could get a copy of the passenger list of the Hindenburg. A cousin to my Grandfather was killed on that flight. I explained to her that he was coming here to escape Hitler. I told her that not all Germans agreed with his views. I got my census, and I got the copy of the manifest for the Hindenburg. Megan was so disappointed that she was not allowed to be in the room where I copied the Hindenburg manifest, so I hurried and made her a copy of it too. I said to her that since only descendants of the persons that were on that fatal trip were allowed copies, she was allowed a copy, it did make her fell much better. It was only her age that kept her from going into that room. Only adults were allowed in, and Meg was only 10 years old at the time.

From this trip alone, my granddaughter has begun to look in the history of not only our family, but why an evil man tried to destroy a whole race.

If I did not get anything for my genealogy search it would still have been worth the trip, for it taught my granddaughter lessons in history of the world, our family history, and showed her the great power of loving those who contributed to wanting a better world.

On the trip back to Maryland, I pulled out the census and showed them to Megan. I said to her things like.."See here, this was your Great-grandmother and Grandfather..and here is your Great Great-grandmother and Father"..I mentioned to her that she might want to write about her trip when she returned to school. She did that, and got her first "A."

After that trip, my daughter told me that suddenly Megan wanted to learn more and started to bring up her grades. She found that looking and seeking was the one way that she could achieve her goals in life.

I got satisfaction from my search, but I also found a soulmate.. Megan is an honor roll student now, and yes, the pride is enormous!

Host GFS Grace (Plus a proud Grandmother!)

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