So, Who do you think you are?

I can't say enough about that show. Last year I started watching "Who do you think you are"? for the first time. If you aren't familiar with the show it's about finding your roots. Every week they feature a different celebrity looking for someone in their family chart. Ancestry.com sponsors the show and they teach you how to use their search engine to find the hardest people on your list. They give tips and tibits to help you in your quest. I love how they give you incite on the whys of your family history. It's no big secret I have been researching my family tree for a while. You can find the story here and here. This past Friday it was Reba McEntire. I *heart* Reba! Reba was searching for her mom's side of the family when she found her 6th great Grandfather. She couldn't figure out why his father would have sent his 9 year old boy to America without any adults. Not just for the trip but as in no one here in the USA that he knew. The historians were able to explain to her the Whys. Those of you who have ever done a family tree understand this. How many times have you uncovered a fact on your search but don't understand the Whys? A lot of time records only list the facts. I found a Why recently myself. I found my great grandmother on a census report when she was 14. The report lists her as living with step grandparents. I would love to know why she was living with them and what happened to her parents. The biggest Why is who are these people and what is the connection with them.  I have asked around my family and nobody has any knowledge of her parents. Not even names. Nor do they know who these people are and whatever happened to them. She apparently never mentioned anything of her past. Kind of sad when you think about it. See how much easier it would be if I had the Whys. I wonder if I could get "Who do you think you are" to do my family tree? You know, since I'm a non famous celebrity. ;)

If you have never watched the show before check it out. Check your listings but here it's on Friday nights at 8. 29 days until they release the 1940's census report. Woo Hoo! Can you tell I'm excited? My grandmother will be in this report plus my other grandparents marriage should be on this too.