A Fresh Start

Every year, Amy Johnson Crow does the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog challenge. She provides the prompts and the goal is to write a story about an ancestor using the prompt. The stories people tell are interesting and varied – one can interpret the prompts in many different ways. Every year I swear I’m going to push myself to write at least 12 of those prompts. And every year I write at least one!

I’ve been thinking all week about  the first topic – A Fresh Start. This seems to literally apply to almost all of my relatives. My grandmother moved to Chicago from southern Illinois after my grandfather died – to get a fresh start. Many of my ancestors moved from the old country to the US – to get a fresh start. Earlier ancestors moved from North Carolina to Kentucky and Tennessee – before ending up in southern Illinois – all for a fresh start.

Each one most likely had something different in mind when making that fresh start. There was the promise of new land and better farms, working coal mines, staying one-step ahead of the law, better jobs and a new neighborhood. I imagine each relative had high hopes that this fresh start would be the right start. In some cases it was – in some cases, things didn’t change much. But that’s the chance you take when you make a fresh start!

For me, this year is somewhat of a fresh start. It’s not anywhere near as grand and scary as the fresh starts made by my ancestors. I’ve reduced most of my commitments and plan to concentrate on two things – working on my BCG certification portfolio and doing more writing. Of course it’s not that simple! Both require a ton of research and learning. But that’s what keeps me interested in genealogy and  keeps me coming back for more – the challenge of that  next new thing that’s around the corner – that fresh start!!!