Without genealogy, people from the past can feel abstract to us; looked at in aggregate, a tragedy like the Spanish Flu can melt into an abstract horror. But when you have a connection to someone who went through such a tragedy, the circumstances are much more real and relatable. And if the people of the past are real to us, this means we are not so different from them. This means they have much to teach us.

Family history offers lessons that can be bracing, cruel, and optimistic, sometimes all at once. They are lessons in the tenuousness of life, and in endurance.... And, family history can be a means of connection and solace.

A tree cannot ignore its roots, or it will get no nourishment. The same is true for us. We can be nurtured by our roots, even if they weren’t healthy. They may have been toxic, but they also endowed us with intelligence, talents, and positive attributes.

Tracking your Emotional Genealogy can be exciting, illuminating and very rewarding as you deepen your awareness of how you came to be the way you are and what you were reacting to or avoiding. It can also be fun, and is an adventure like going to a new place when you travel, or re-discovering a place you have been before.