William and Anna Priest Myers on their wedding day, 1890.
Emerson Lee Zirtzman is scheduled to come into this world a little after 9 am Tuesday, March 8. He will be the first child for Sean and Ashley Zirtzman; the 10th grandchild for me; the first for Sean’s dad and Ashley’s parents.
Ashley did not have an easy pregnancy. She has had to deal with a variety of pregnancy-related maladies,and they decided that a c-section would be best.
I hope Emerson will have a good life, but I don’t think it will be easy. His mother and father are mildly autistic, which will be challenging in itself. He does have one thing one his side, though; the devotion of dozens of people who will do their best to see that his life is the best it can be.
I have been working on my family tree, mostly for myself, but I see how it can benefit generations to come. I started with the obvious names and found branches that led to interesting ancestors that date back to 1015 England.
Lambert Jocelinus was known as Joseli de Aldon (from my mother’s mother (Shoemaker). He was a knight, who married the granddaughter of Louis IV of France, Gerberga. Their only child known is Geoffelin. Lambert was slain in Battle Sept. 10, 1015.
Later on, his great- great-great-great-great-great-great grandson Thomas, sailed from London to New England April 17, 1635 on the Increase to Scituate.
Sean and Ashley’s wedding day, Aug. 15, 2015
Maybe the easiest way to log the relationship of my ancestors is to use exponents. Lambert would have been my grandfather to about the 18th power. I have an ancestor who was a sea captain, too, who died on a voyage to England in 1634, from my Grandpa Myers lineage.
The internet has made the search for our ancestors so much easier, and though many sites charge for their services, you can still find the information if you know where to look. It’s a little time-consuming, but I believe it is worth it.
Not only do we get a glimpse of what life was like during our ancestors’ lifetimes, but it reinforces the fact that though we may not be here forever, our family’s lineage will continue on.
And maybe by recording our own history, we can offer a little insight to those who will come after us, so they can connect to the past, too.
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