ROOTS & BRANCHES

As many of us begin to emerge from various states of pandemic isolation—or at least shrug off some of changes in routine the last year-plus hath wrought—I know I’m looking forward to many “back to normal” things.

I’m yearning for road trips to several libraries and repositories.

Beyond that, I’m looking forward to October and getting back to Salt Lake City and the Family History Library.

While there, I’ll be so glad to catchup with my many friends in Utah who I’ve been accustomed to seeing at least once a year (either in Utah or at genealogy conferences somewhere around the country).

Most of them I haven’t seen since the fall of 2019 … and that’s way too long.

I’m especially reminded of that when I think about my recent 61^st birthday … if the actuarial tables are right in projecting a man my age is likely to live to 80—and, trust me, I don’t take that as a given!—more than three quarters of my life has passed by. That fraction seems sobering, especially when 40 seems like just yesterday.

(Related to aging … I often think back to the ages at death of my direct Beidler line, which range from 36 to 81. I’ve “beaten” two of my ancestors so far and am coming up on my father, who made it 68.)

But, I digress. Let’s get back to the “looking forward” part.

I’m looking forward to prowling around cemeteries.

I’m hoping that some as-yet-unknown cousins take DNA tests and confirm some parts of my family tree that are a little shaky.

And, relevant to genealogy only in that it’s a family-owned entity, I’m looking forward to visiting the Frank Frazetta museum in the Poconos. Frazetta was a painter of incredible talent whose covers adorned paperbacks (his renderings of Conan the barbarian warrior are iconic) and horror comic magazines (yes, I still have a collection of them). After some fussing and fighting among his children, a museum with his original works is open to the public and a visit is overdue!

I’m frankly ready for the International German Genealogy Partnership virtual conference that I’m co-chairing (it will run 17–24 July) to be in the rear view mirror.

And in that similar vein, I’m looking forward to getting back to in-person conferences when everyone is comfortable and safe.

Of course, I’ve also mentioned several times in “Roots & Branches” that for successful genealogical societies, there should be no complete “back to the old days.” I’m pretty certain having meetings online in some form, even if a hybrid between in-person and online, is a necessary ingredient.

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Happy Fourth of July to everyone!