Coming Back Slowly - Post 1

I've been off for a long while. The passion I'd worked under no longer drove me. I have had a great deal of trouble finding it again after the bone marrow transplant. But, it is slowly returning. I'm certainly not working as I once did, but that's ok. I will get there.

One thing I have had is lots of time to think as I try to recover and worry over what I thought was a lost passion. I realized I had been needing to define what that passion was. Often, in the community, the argument is made about who is or is not a genealogist. I find the argument time wasting, divisive and quite frankly, a little elitist. One thing was clear to me, though. I wanted to find and record my family history. That was my goal in the very beginning so many years ago. 

That is finally settled, at least in my heart. I am a family historian.  Now, I may under the title of “family historian” refer to myself as a genealogist. Merriam-Webster Online states that a genealogist is “a person who traces or studies the descent of persons or families”. On the other hand, I may refer to myself as the family historian. Again, Merriam-Webster Online states that a historian is “1. a student or writer of history; especially : one who produces a scholarly synthesis”; 2. “a writer or compiler of a chronicle”. Family is pretty self-explanatory, so I will let you define that one as you see it. I'll just say I'm a genealogist when I am looking for documents, dates, places and names, and call myself a family historian when I am fleshing out the people and the era . I feel the love and passion coming back.

I feel so much better now that has been solved. Now, on to the next problem. I hope it works out this well.

Merriam-Webster Online

Definition of:  genealogist, historian

http://www.merriam-webster.com/