A to Z Book of Me Challenge G is for Goals and Gifts

Goals...

Everyone has a goal of some sort... I also have a bucket list of things I would
like to see or do... things like :  Going to Disneyland ( doing that this year ) Go to Alaska,
see whales ( Next year will do those ), I also have some things on there like  Write a letter to myself, and open it in 10 years, Dance under the stars, Go on a zipline , send a message in a bottle etc... they are'nt for everyone, but they are things I want to accomplish.

Genealogy wise... I would like to get further back in my Newman line, I would love to find out more information on each of my ancestors... finding things about them, makes them feel more real to me.
and I would love to see the places they lived.

Gifts.....

When I look around, I can see gifts that I have recieved from family, and things I recieved
from some of my previous students..
Things like these...

For Genealogy.. I have these..

 My Dad gave this to me... I think it was my Grandfather's

This I recieved from Ken's work.. it was when we were first married.. its
over 38 years old..

I also have the gift of Family.. laughter.. fun !!

A to Z Book of Me Challenge F is for Family

Family...  Parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters...
We have family that feel like strangers,..... and friends who feel more like family.
We have family that we wish we were close too, that we tried to be close to, but its obvious
its not going to happen... and others that it takes no effort at all to feel close with.
Regrdless... we love them all...

When I was thinking of this prompt... it got me thinking...
I am incredibly lucky to have the family I have ...

I remember living with my Gran with my dad... sure it must have been hard
on her having a 5 year old underfoot all the time... but oh how she loved me.
I knew she did.... I could feel it...

Cant you see the kindness in her eyes... this is how I remember her.
Her dark her, never did get many grey hairs ( lucky her )
She was just lovely...
 She died close to my birthday... I remember my dad calling me to let me know.. I cried.
And then on my birthday I recieved a birthday card from her... I felt like I got a hug
from Heaven.
I could honour so many family members writing this, but have decided to honour
my Gran at this time.

 Catherine Brown Greves was born 02 Aug 1901 in 2 Murdieston Street, Greenock, Scotland and died 10 Dec 1981 in Inverclyde Royal Hospital,Greenock, Scotland. She married David Scott Newman 06 Dec 1940 in Foursquare Gospel Church, Greenock
She was 39 years old...

My Grandad had a big family.. my dad was the youngest... he would have turned 10 years old a few months after they got married.
My Gran automatically took on the challenge of raising a boy.
She was a religous lady, went to church every Sunday.

I remember her always putting a ribbon in my hair... but I would ALWAYS lose them.
She had a blue budgie... seems like she always had budgies.
When my Grandad was alive, I remember them having a dog called Laddie.

I always loved going to visit her... I didn't appreciate her as much as I 
should until I got older... always loved her though
Funny how that works... time has a way of making us realise what is important.

" F " is for family... I love all of mine

A to Z Book of Me Challenge E is for Evidence

When working on our family tree its important to have evidence, the more we have
the better.

Here I have the marriage certificate of my Great Grandparents
William Newman and Helen Menzies.

Here is the marriage certificate of my Grandparents
David Scott Newman and Agnes McGowan


When my brother and his daughter died.. I have the clipping from
the newspaper.

My Great Grandfather William Newman bought a buriel plot

in Arbroath for one pound ten shillings.. I have

family members buried here

This is the marriage of my Great, Great Grandparents

Andrew Newman and Jean Anderson

When my Aunt Helen Henderson ( Newman )

died, I was sent the programme from it

And here's the programme from my mum

I have more, but wont post anymore right now.

I know I'm lucky to have what I have..

Its so important to have evidence... I dont have

for everyone, but am working on it.

I feel so blessed to have the family I have..

the Newman and McCulloch sides

A to Z Book of Me Challenge D is for Development

Development.... as a person... in my Genealogy...

As a person , I hope that as I get older I can develop more love, more
compassion, we all need more of those.
As I've got older and look back, I can see how I've changed... some for good, and
others.... well....lets just say, there's still some work to be done.  :)
A work in progress...

In Genealogy... although I don't know it all, I can see that I've come a long way.
When I first started , I had my name and my dad's... I had my mum's name
on my birth certificate, but knew nothing about her, and nothing about that
side of the family.

When I found my mum and learned about that side of my family, I think
that's when my interest really grew.
I was already very interested in Genealogy, but finding that part of
my family, made me feel in a way... complete.

The more I found out... the hungrier I felt for more information.

On my dad's side, I found something out about my Great Grandfather
( David McGowan ).  I knew when he died, but I didn't know how..
Then The Greenock Telegraph ( the local newspaper ) did an article on the
Grandfather of someone, who worked at the Mill . Someone had fallen into
the machine, and they needed someone to go in and retrieve the body.  The young
man who did it was the Grandfather of  the man in the article.... the man who fell
in the machine, was my Great Grandfather.... it was 1908.

It saddened my heart to know how he died...

It was another part of my development in my Family History... gathering as much information as I can... I'm still developing in my research, but I've come a long way from when I
first started...

A to Z Book of Me Challenge E is for Collaboration and Collateral

Well I think Collaboration means to Cooperate , so when it comes to Family History
I feel  it means to be forth coming with the information I have, in other words... to share it.
I am so thankful for the people in my life who have shared things with me.
My brother Billy sent me a picture of the house my grandparents ( Thomas and Norah McCulloch ) lived... made it feel real to me.. seeing their  home made me feel closer to them.

Their's is the side with the red door.

The more I delved into Family History, and the more people I contacted, it was nice to be able
to share with each other.
My cousin Agnes sent me many photograph's  ( Thank you Agnes ), and someone on ancestry contacted me,... my Great Grandfather ( David McGowan) is also her Great Grandfather.  Her Grandmother and my Grandmother were sisters... she sent me pictures from that line.

My cousin Ally sent me a photo of my Uncle Tom McCulloch... I was so excited.,
because I finally had a face to a name.

Sharing is important, I have also done the same, with information, photo's. etc.

Collaterol..... I talked about the family member, where we have the same Grandfather.

We are descended from the same stock, but just different lines.

Its good to work on our collaterol lines... to gather as much information

as we can on each of our ancestors.

When we can't go back... branch out  :)

A to Z Book of Me Challenge A is for Analysis

Analysis... what does it mean ?  Especially when it comes to Family History...
I looked it up, and this is what it says :
Detailed examination of the elements or structure of something typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation....

Okay.. so we (  I  ) should be analysing the things I find out for my Family History.
I'm a thinker by nature anyway, in fact I tend to overthink things  :)
 I do think that we should analyse the information that we get... we want to get the most accurate
information written down as possible.... since I'm the one in my family that is trying to get the family 
history together, I should try to get the RIGHT information down.



While researching my Newman side, I thought that I had all the children's names, I was confident that I did.
Just recently, I noticed on another family tree that were 2 other names... but not only that, the last names for the whole family were different ( but with the Newman name underneath )
My first thought was that we were'nt actually Newmans, that it was changed to that later.
I was wrong... PHEW !!
I also found the 2 extra children on a census, and was able to put their names on my tree.

I feel such a sense of .... I was going to say accomplishment, but that wouldn't be the word I 
should use....  I feel good, happy, relieved that I found the children....
You see.... this is my family.
Its important to me that I get everyone...
Hakuna Matata
Means.. FAMILY.... means no-one gets left behind

A to Z Book of Me Challenge B is for Bonding

Bonding... is it possible to feel a bond with our ancestors?
We don't know them... can there be a genealogical pull there?

For me, I would have to say a big YES...
I'm not sure if its like that for everyone, but it definately is for me.

The more I find out, the bigger my heart feels.
I love them all so much... I am part of them...

My Dad was born March 11, 1931, he had a twin sister , but she died shortly after she
was born.  I think my dad was like 5 days old, when his mother also passed away.
My grandfather married my Gran on December 6 1940, so my dad would have been 9 coming up for 10 years old.  He loved my gran like she was his real mum, but she is the only mum he ever knew... the only grandmother I really knew.
I am also working on her tree... its important to me.
What was also important to me was , I always felt prompted to find out about my dad's real mum.
Her name was Agnes McGowan... I have a cousin who is named after her.
I found out as much as I could, but I could really feel that bond there... I wanted more.

I asked around about pictures, I so desperatly wanted to know what she looks like... did I resemble her?  Am I like her in any way ?
I could never find anything.
I was even able to get in touch with my Uncle Andrew's wife ( my Aunt Margaret )  in Edinburgh... but still nothing ( Although I did get pictures and info on their family... wow.. do the Newman boys all resemble each other )  :)

My Aunt Helen ( my dad's sister ) died 24 July 2008.
I dont remember how much longer after, but I received a brown envelope in the mail form my cousin Arthur and his wife ( Liz ).. ( My Aunt Helen's son ) inside there were some pictures... one of the pictures was my grandmother Agnes McGowan... I cried !!
It was the BEST gift I could have got....
And my cousin Agnes, who was named after her, actually resembles her a lot.

I believe there can be a strong bond to our ancestors... I have had other experiences with other names on my family tree.
I'm so thankful to have the family that I have... I'm so thankful that they are mine....