FHWC: No story today, but here's what I am doing

Gina asked me the other day if these stories would be preserved with the family tree. That reminded me of a post on the FHWC forum I had read about an hour earlier asking what happens to all of our family history blog posts if we die, and no one is paying the hosting bill?

Well, I'm 36, and in relatively good health, but accidents can happen. So this morning I printed out all of my blog posts about Grandma, slapped them into a folder, and labeled it "15 Zula Irene Nowell". I would have thrown Parmer onto the end of her name, but I wrote too large on the tab to fit it.

In a little while I will put her folder, and all of my other genealogy research folders, including my pencil and paper ancestor charts, into the filing cabinet. So if I get hit by a meteorite the size of a refrigerator, Family, you know where to find it.

There's also a bunch more on my netbook, so somebody can copy all of that stuff and distribute it to whoever wants it in the Martin, Parmer, Norman and Russell lines, if they are so inclined.

I'll work on getting more stuff printed out as I go. And I really need to invest in a backup drive. Of course, neither of those is likely to survive if the house burns down, but there are others with the same research data I have (probably more than I have). I have to draw the line somewhere between hobby and obsession.

So, hopefully I will live long enough to get all of this organized into something distributable for the family. But if I don't, you know where to find it.

There is no story today because we are leaving town in a few hours. But I didn't want to just skip a day, since the point of this Family History Writing Challenge is to write consistently, every day, for 28 days. So I just made my 300 word quota for the day ;-D Okay, it's supposed to be about somebody, so I'll take a notebook in the car and jot something down to post tomorrow.

On Cleaning Tombstones

This blog post was inspired by the fact that I was unable to comment on To Clean or Not to Clean... because I don't have one of the required profiles. So I'm commenting here instead.

The comment I was going to submit was this:

Tending the tombstones of family was very important to my great-grandmother, and I have gone out and washed the tombstones of my grandparents and great grandparents to get the bird poop off (water and nylon brush). While I can understand that some people would rather keep the antiquated look of an old cemetery, I for one would be very appreciative if someone decided to tidy up and make the tombstones of my ancestors easier to find and read.

But since I'm already here, I'll elaborate a bit. My mom took her grandmother to the cemetery on a fairly regular basis to replace the flowers and straighten things up around our relatives graves. It was very important to her, and was perhaps a way of showing her respect and love.

So a couple of years ago, my cousins and I had the idea to go out to the cemetery and replace the flowers. I hadn't been out there in years, and had no idea what condition the tombstones would be in. So I brought a couple of jugs of water and a nylon brush with me to make sure I could get some nice photos for Find a Grave.

Obviously, these tombstones aren't very old, so all we were cleaning off was bird poop, lawn clippings and dirt. We had a great time giving Grandma, Granddaddy, Nanny, Papaw and Aunt Winnie their "baths", and I will bring along my brush and some water when we go back out there next month.

I honestly didn't realize that there was such a debate over whether or not to clean tombstones until today. I do understand that old tombstones have to be cleaned carefully and properly, to avoid damaging them, and I wouldn't suggest using anything but water unless you have consulted with an expert.

I've never gone around straightening up and cleaning the tombstones of others, but I truly appreciate those who care enough to do it, and do it right.

So if you haven't already, check out To Clean or Not to Clean.... Alisha provides some great tips on how restore old tombstones without causing further damage, and shows the dramatic difference that it makes.