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Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

The power of the deadline

April 12, 2016 By Janine Adams 6 Comments

page 1 dave's letter to bea testIn my last post, I blogged about how I needed to reignite my interest in doing family history research. Due to competing priorities I hadn’t done any research in awhile and I was having difficulty jumping back in. I decided to work on research that I could share with my father when I visit him next week. That deadline helped activate me a little.

But I let the deadline get closer before taking action. Last week was an especially busy week with organizing clients, so it wasn’t until the weekend that I finally did something. And that’s because I selected a small, fun project that I could do in the now-abbreviated time available to me.

A little background: A couple of years ago, my aunt gave the great gift of a hand-written letter from my grandfather to his then-fiancee, my grandmother. In it he poured out his personal history in the hopes of putting all his cards on the table before they were married. I read and enjoyed it, but retained only a little of the information in my head. (Though I did blog about some of the insights!) I had my grandfather’s handwriting analyzed by Nancy Douglas. (Fascinating!) I had shared the handwriting analysis with my father, but never the actual letter.

So I decided to transcribe the letter before I leave town. I started on Sunday and it’s been such a fun project! The letter is 37 pages, handwritten. But the writing and spacing are large, so it’s not a daunting task. A little bonus is that the letter, when given to me, was missing three double-sided pages. I found those pages in a bundle of love letters my father gave me this past December. So I’ve been able to scan those missing pages and include them in the transcription.

This project has reinforced to me the power of the deadline and the incredible value of transcribing. In the process of transcribing this letter, I’ve really read it. I’ve taken note of what a good writer my grandfather was (he ended up becoming a newspaper reporter) and what a humorous writer he was. It’s given me a little insight into the similarities between my father and grandfather.

It’s also given me a peek into the hardships he endured as a child and young man and what a hard worker he was. I learned, for example, that in high school he worked after school from 3 pm to 11 pm every school day and all day Saturday and Sunday at a movie theater. And for all those hours he earned $14 a week. That was 1922 and Google tells me that would be $191.40 in today’s dollars. Not a great hourly wage! But he wrote very proudly of his hard work and earnings.

I haven’t yet finished transcribing–it’s a great project to take in small chunks and that’s what I’ve been doing. But I’m enjoying it so much and feel my genealogy spark turning back into a flame!

Here’s my takeaway from this little experience. I realized that I was able to reignite the flame because:

  • I had a deadline.
  • I chose a small, fun project.
  • I’m getting some great insights and easy-to-read access to them later
  • That project will be important to someone besides me.
  • The project can be done in 15-minute increments.

When I finish this, I have that set of love letters between these same grandparents that I can transcribe if I choose. Or I move on to something else. But the nice thing is that I’m working on family history again!

Filed Under: Excitement, My family, Reflections Tagged With: Adams, genealogy tools, overwhelm, social history

Comments

  1. Vickie Sheridan says

    April 12, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    . I’m sure your dad will appreciate your transcription. I have some short letters my grandfather wrote but 37 pages is amazing. I have done some transcriptions and it really makes you stop and read carefully. Have a great trip!

    Reply
    • Janine Adams says

      April 12, 2016 at 4:25 pm

      Thanks so much, Vickie!

      Reply
  2. Bill Williams says

    April 12, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    I have shifted to scanning all the letters, photos, diaries, and other things that I have on hand because I know that the generation after me will not have the time to do so. Plus, this allows me to read actual things and put more accurate meat on the bones (facts – census’, directories, etc). This also involves the writings my wife did in college and diplomas, awards, music evaluations, driver licenses and the list grows as I write. I am just saying that we all get caught in the facts mam, just the facts, when there are objects that sit on our selves that have stories that in my thoughts deserve to be recorded along with a photo of the object.
    The list is endless here just in our own homes, so for those of you who are stuck, try a different approach of adding information to your wonderful genealogical records. Oh, I am sure that our relatives have some grand stories for those precious things they keep too.

    Reply
    • Janine Adams says

      April 12, 2016 at 7:16 pm

      Bill, that’s a great idea. You’re creating a really well rounded body of genealogical information! It’s so fun to find the insights hidden in those letters and diaries. Thanks so much for commenting.

      Reply
  3. Jana Last says

    April 15, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    Janine,

    I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today’s Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2016/04/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-april-15.html

    Have a great weekend!

    Reply
    • Janine Adams says

      April 15, 2016 at 4:43 pm

      Thanks so much for the honor, Jana!

      Reply

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about me

I'm Janine Adams, a professional organizer and a genealogy enthusiast. I love doing family history research, but I find it's very easy for me to get overwhelmed and not know where to turn next. So I'm working hard to stay organized and feel in control as I grow my family tree.

In this blog, I share my discoveries and explorations, along with my organizing challenges (and solutions). I hope by sharing what I learn along the way I'll be able to help you stay focused and have fun while you do your research, too.

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