And it really does matter; especially because I know what my ancestors and extended family members died from.
I had that on my mom’s side, my uncle. No one on the Italian side. i went to sicily and met a bunch of my dad’s cousin and kids, but they really didn’t know much about my grandfather.
I looked up the white pages in messina and other parts of sicily and sent letters. But no response. So beyond my great grand parents names, nothing on that side.
Recently I got a copy of my mom’s ancestors discharge from the revolutionary army. A photo of an engraved metal plate about the size of a large cell phone. Prior to that we couldn’t get earlier than the civil war. My mom was Irish and English and she used to fight with herself.
“I’n very lucky that my family had a “family historian” for man y generations; I’m it, until I teach the next one.”
Same here. An aunt did it first. When she died, it fell to me. I’m trying to pass the torch to someone else. Nobody wants to do it. I guess “ya gotta wanna” — and they don’t wanna.