Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, A Satisfying Moment

Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings, has posted his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge, it is:

Tell us about one (or more) "Satisfying Genealogy Moments" from your family history and genealogy research. What was it, and how did it make you feel? You can make a Top Ten list if you want to!

This challenge is based on a post by Leland Meitzler, Top Ten list of "Most Satisfying Genealogy Events".

Ten you say? Well, oh, myyyy. OK, lets see what I can drag out of the dark gray masses of my memory.

1.) Teaching. Nothing like teaching and the feedback. It is so rewarding when someone comes back and has used a hint I taught. Their excitement, their happiness at breaking down a wall.

2.) Taking Man to England to churches where his 2 and 3 great grandparents were married and baptized. Taking him to Whalen Minnesota where his grandfather lived in 1880.

3.) Showing a newbie how to use Rootsweb World Connect. She was looking for her father, and we found him in less than 10 minutes, and a whole new family she did not know she had. So gratifying and humbling to put a family back together.

4.) Solving the who is Arthur Stevens Sr. question. The answer is amazing. Worthy of a book, which I have been working on for almost 20 years.

5.) Holding in my hands, an original document signed in 1802 by my 4th great grandfather, asking for the State of Georgia to reimburse for loss of goods to Indians in 1788.

6.) Taking the Dardens home again. This one event, may well have been the most rewarding family history event or moment in my entire life.

7.) Using the internet to connect distant cousins. As in “Rewarding stuff, this family history “

8.) Connecting by phone and in person with cousins discovered along the trail of my family history research. Have met the most wonderful interesting kind souls. All have enhanced my life.

9.)  Rubbing the headstone of my 3rd great grandfather's headstone during #6 above.  Several years before, the headstone was lying face down in the mud, I worked 2 years by snail mail to get the stone righted.

10.)  Discovering that 2 of my WO friends were distant cousins, what fun we have had.  Best friends AND cousins, pretty good stuff.

Well, my my, I remembered 10.  I know that there are plenty more, all causes for the Genie-Happy Dance.  What I realize when I read this list of 10 is that I worked VERY hard for each and every one of them.  A satisfying moment realized after long hard hours of research. 

Thanks to Randy and Leland, as usual the challenge made me stop, revisit and look at my research in a different light.  So, the challenge has also been a very satisfying moment.

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