I spent an hour or so yesterday printing off some family tree details, which I’ve subsequently collated into folder for my dad who isn’t too well at the moment.
My pater is an undemonstrative man who is ruled by a stringent daily routine, so when I handed it to him this morning it was no real surprise to get the underwhelming response of “Thanks Gary. Right I must get my breakfast.”……. God bless him.
In his defence, he did show plenty of interest in the fruits of my mini project after volubly consuming a bowl of Crunchie Nut cornflakes. Additionally, it has to be said, his initial response was more enthusiastic than that of my mum.
She had just returned from the dentists, chilled to the bone from the sub zero temperatures outside, when I informed her of my genealogical exertions.
After a brief moment of contemplation, she reached inside her coat pocket and after retrieving a small tube asked “Do you want one of these free toothpaste samples, Gary?”
On my affirmative reply, she handed me the tube of Sensodyne Pronamel, which according to the packaging gives you a refreshing sensation…… Unfortunately, I couldn’t read anywhere it can mitigate against people not being grateful for your genealogical research.
I started tracing my roots around seven years ago after a request from my dad (Mally). I recall his appeal vividly after troughing a bowl of Weetabix in late October 2009.
Following my dad’s request and after he’d removed the Weetabix spillage from his jumper, I opened a ancestry.com account to see what family information I could gleen for Mally.
I found the pastime quite addictive, spending many hours surfing the genealogy site for census, birth, death and marriage details of my forefathers.
In total, through my research and with help of ancestors I found during this work, I was able to include 350+ names to my family tree.
I chose ancestry.com as my research engine of choice as I deemed them to be a reputable site. I didn’t want to get caught out by more untrustworthy sites, like an acquaintance who’d been told by a disreputable company that he had genealogical links to Kermit the frog and Ron Jeremy’s penis.
As I write this paragraph, my mum is showing a tad more interest in the folder of family connections than she did earlier. Well she sneezed on it anyway, whilst on the phone to her dental health insurers. This company appear to want to take her premiums, but not cover her treatment. I’ll send them an email to clarify.
Health insurance companies, eh!…. You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them……Not literally of course……. Or then again!
On the unsatisfactory conclusion of her telephone conversation with her dental insurance provider, my mum is currently sitting with Mally and his 11am cuppa in the dining room. Here they scour the details within the family tree folder I’ve created, making the occasional remark about its content.
I recently commenced penning the complaint email I promised my mum I’d write to her heath insurance company. While I draft this it’s heartening to hear the following positive comments emanating from the dining room about my ancestry research:-
“This isn’t too bad you know.”, “He’s spelt your Hillary’s name wrong, Marg.” and “Who’s Ron Jeremy, Malcolm?”
