Wish I had paid more attention, as a kid

[Michael Weatherhead]

We were once visiting with my Great Aunt Gerry (Geraldine), when I was a kid. She lived in Southern California. My dad began to ask her, about our family (Scottish and Irish-Canadian). She told him all kinds of good info, which I wish I had paid more attention to. She even mailed a sort of family tree, to me, once, when I was a teenager. It had all kinds of helpful information, written by her. Unfortunately, I have lost it, over the years. I do remember one thing, though. She had said she had an aunt named "Silly" Casey (Silly was her nickname, and Aunt Gerry didn't know her real first name). Well, I found Silly Casey, (Census) on an internet site search. Thank you, Aunt Gerry. I sure wish Aunt Gerry were still here, I have tons more questions for her.

[Rick Y]

Yep, it is almost impossible to start your genealogical research too early but it is so easy to wait and start it too late. Sigh.

[MinusHD]

My father kept a trunk full of old family photos. After my mother died he and I went through some of these photos and he knew who everyone was, even in some very old photos. He had a slight interest in genealogy and had purchased some family tree software but hadn't gotten very far with it. I suggested that he scan the photos and save them in the family tree software, or simply save them to a folder and name the files with the person's name. Unfortunately he never got around to it before his downturn in health and death. He was the only living person who knew who these people were.
So I agree with you... I wish I had paid more attention, and I wish I had just sat down with my dad to make sure the two of us had gotten it done. My sister still has the photos, but at this point they're just a bunch of photos.

Fortunately, we do have a lot of the genealogy stuff pretty well under control.

[Hexdef101]

I would bet that you probably remember more then you think. when I started all I really had to go on was names, I didn't actually know who they were, just the names my dad had mentioned over the years. If not for that I couldn't have possibly traced out anything on Ancestry, without alot more help. Still took me 2 yrs to really pass beyond my great grandfather because his father had died early and there wasn't any census info to go on. Unfortunately I am stuck on my paternal grandmothers side as they seemed deathly allergic to paperwork. Anyway when you spot the names that are somewhere in your memory, you will know. Good work though.

[tripleblessed]

My sister still has the photos, but at this point they're just a bunch of photos.

Often you can find genealogy search threads related to your surname which will yield valid e-mail contact with cousins you never heard of who have some of the same pictures, with labels. Also, I have found family members identified in website pages hosted by historical societies local to where they lived, donated by descendants of someone else in the photo.