2012 Genealogy Goals Revisited

A year ago I wrote this list of research goals. Before writing a 2013 list I need to evaluate my progress and results from this list.

1.       I will concentrate my genealogy research on my mother’s family, broadening my knowledge of the Coyle, Mullane, Brady and English families in Ireland and the Gardner family in Austria.

[Partly done. I did concentrate on the Irish families but did not follow up on the Gardner family in Austria. They will need to be on my 2013 list.]

2.       Once again I will look through my Nana’s old trunk, my paper & computer files and my photographs for any clues I may have over looked in the past. [Done. I love looking through my Nana’s trunk on a rainy or snowy afternoon. It is the closest I can come to a visit with my beloved Nana.]

3.       In order to expand my Irish research I will organize my current findings with a timeline for each family & a list of findings & a list of questions still to be answered. [Done. There are still more questions to be answered but I know what direction I am moving in.]

4.       This winter I will visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and search by names and locations for my mother’s family. I have never been there so I plan to research how things work there so I can get the most out of my time. [Done. I went to Utah in March. I found very limited information on my mother’s family but found many resources for my father’s family. I want to go back and do more. Read my posts on that Utah trip.]

5.       This summer I will go to Ireland and walk where my Irish ancestors walked: going to County Tipperary where the Mullanes lived and to County Cavan where the Coyles lived. Hopefully, the above goals will show me more precisely where I should when I get to Ireland. [Done. I went to Ireland in April. My daughter and I had great adventures. I walked in my ancestor’s footsteps.Read my posts from that adventure. I want to go back with my other daughter.]

6.       In the fall I will organize and write my findings.  I plan to publish a book on my mother’s family but that will probably happen in 2013. [I did not get this far. After the holidays and a trip in January, I need to do this!]

7.       All along the way I will use my blog and my website to share my findings and my questions with my family. [Done but not over!]

Writing down these goals helped me to clarify the direction my genealogy was headed in 2012. It also shows me where I need to begin my 2013 goals. 

Merry Christmas!

Our 2012 Christmas card

We wish you all the Joys of Christmas

&

the Dreams of a Happy New Year!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Eve

A Hand to Hold at Christmas

By Rod McKuen

Everybody needs

a hand to hold at Christmas

all of us could use a friendly smile

a pretty holly wreath

with presents underneath

but most of all

a hand to hold at Christmas.

Everybody needs

a hand to hold at Christmas.

all of us could use a friendly grin

a word or two of cheer

to finish up the year.

but most of all

a hand to hold at Christmas.

When the sidewalk Santas

start their jingle jangle jingle

and all the streets

are silver and gold

winter’s not a wonderland

unless you feel a tingle

and walking’s only walking

without a hand to hold.

Everybody needs

a hand to hold at Christmas.

each of us could use

a happy heart

a tug upon the sleeve

come Christmas Eve

but best of all

a hand to hold at Christmas.

from the Carols of Christmas by Rod McKuen

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories – Christmas Music

 Today Geneabloggers ask if we have a favorite Christmas song. Be sure to read all theposts that answer this question.

Helen Coyle Gardner

My maternal grandmother, Helen (Coyle) Gardner [1897 – 1965], had a favorite Christmas song. She had a strong religious beliefs and a devotion to the Blessed Mother. Her favorite song, about the Blessed Mother and her Child, was Silent Night. I think of her when I hear it.

Silent Night

(Joseph Mohr (1792-1848), 1818)

Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, All is bright
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy Infant so Tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from heaven afar;
Heavenly hosts sing Al-le-lu-ia!
Christ the Saviour is born!
Christ the Saviour is born!

Silent night, holy night!
Wondrous star, lend thy light!
With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King!
Christ the Saviour is here,
Jesus the Saviour is here!

Silent night, Holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord at thy birth;
Jesus Lord at thy birth.

Read my Advent blogs from 2011.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Religious Services

We usually go to Mass on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day.

Growing up, my brothers and I would rather go to church the night before Christmas so we could stay at home on Christmas and play with our new toys.  That meant we had to stay up very late and go the midnight Mass.There were no earlier services in those years. Mass was said in Latin so there was much that we did not understand but I loved the flowers, the candles and the songs.

When our children grew up we were often traveling on Christmas Eve, trying to see both sides of our family. In the years we stayed at home our children also preferred going to Mass the night before Christmas. Fortunately we did not have to wait till midnight. Saint Henry's church has an early children's Mass. The children would sing and act out the Nativity. It was a very different kind of service than my brothers and I had experienced, easier for children to understand and participate in. You can see our girls dressed for the special night.

Now that our children are adults we are often traveling again. We attend Mass in other states but we usually stick with Christmas Eve Mass. No matter when or where we go it is always special, to be together, to pray and sing together, and to remember the first Christmas.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories – Christmas Shopping

Today Geneabloggers asks: How did your family handle Christmas Shopping? Did anyone finish early or did anyone start on Christmas Eve? Be sure to read all the posts about Christmas shopping. 

In our family we were all pretty good about planning ahead with our shopping. Our small town had no gift shops so we had to drive to the City of Hudson, NY. We bundled up, walked along Warren Street and looked at the pretty window displays. We shopped in Woolworths and Newberry’s Five and Ten Cent Stores. There was a two story clothing store that had an elevator and a gentleman who operated the elevator. I remember buying embroidered cotton handkerchiefs there for my Nana. There was a drug store that also sold boxes of chocolates. I remember buying a small box of Russell Stover chocolates for my grand aunt. It had just four pieces of chocolate and cost me 25 cents. 

About 1965 the first shopping mall in our area opened. It was a special occasion when our mother would drive us there. We’d drive for over an hour and be amazed at all the stores there.

My oldest brother has never been a ‘plan ahead’ shopper. When he was old enough to drive himself he would begin his shopping on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, when we were all gathered around the tree, my mother would hand around beautifully wrapped and beribboned boxes. Sometimes I hated to ruin the wrapping by opening a gift. Then my brother would hand out his gifts. Because he did his shopping at the last minute, his gifts were often still in paper bags! We learned to look forward to those paper bag gifts. Occasionally he still gives one of us a paper bag gift and we all laugh. 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Stockings

This is the same post from 2011...

Growing up we had the usual red felt stockings with our names written in silver glitter across the top. Our mother hung them on the back of our front door in the little house when we were small and going up the stair posts in the big house when we were older. When my husband and I bought our house with a fireplace I was thrilled that we could hang stockings form the mantle, like in story books and magazine pictures.

As a quilter, I made our stockings. They were white with an appliqué on each: an angel or tree or Santa. One year our daughter decided to they needed further enhancement and colored on them with a permanent fabric marker. (Why did I leave it in her reach??)

Our son’s stocking is different from the rest. His is crocheted in red & green yarn. Why? He was born on the evening of December 23. When he was brought to me on Christmas morning, the nurses had put him into the stocking which they had sewn. They even snapped a Polaroid of him, peeking out the top. The best filling for a stocking ever!

This year I have made a new set of stockings, patchwork in greens, reds and golds. Our son will be married soon and I think a more adult stocking is appropriate. However, I put away the crocheted stocking carefully. There may be a time when a new generation can use it.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories – Nativity

 Our Nativity or Manger scene was always a part of our Christmas. My mother had a small table in the hall where we’d set up the wooden stable and colorful plastic figures: the animals, an angel, a shepherd and the Holy Family. We had a cow that did not stand straight. She had to lean against the stall to stay on her feet. There were fat white sheep and a friendly looking grey donkey. The Blessed Mother, in her pink and blue robes, was my favorite. We never put the Baby Jesus in the little scene until Christmas Day. And my brothers and I put the three wise men on the far edge of the table. Each day we’d take turns, moving them closer to the Baby.

When I got married my mother bought me a beautiful set of Nativity figures of my own. I keep them in the original box and love lifting out each tissue paper wrapped figure. It is like seeing friends who I haven’t seen in a long time. When my children were little theirs were the little hands who placed the animals in the stable and moved the wise men closer each day.

Read some of my 2011 Advent posts.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories – Christmas at School

 For many years I taught in a small Catholic school. Advent and Christmas were always special in my first grade classroom. Naturally, most of our focus was on the religious meaning of Christmas, lighting the Advent candles and talking about the coming of the baby Jesus.

We also focused on helping others. The children brought in hats and mittens for the homeless shelter. We gave books to our school library. We also remembered our Veterans. All through the year we visited the veterans at the local veteran’s hospital, taking homemade cookies and cards, singing and thanking them for their service to our country. We did special little things all through the year.

One Christmas we had the opportunity to make cards and little gifts for sailors on a nuclear submarine. My future son in law was serving on the USS Albany. We got the whole school involved in this project. He came to our school and, in a special school assembly, the children presented their cards and gifts to him. Our principal, the daughter of a retired naval officer, thanked him and his fellow submariners for their service. Following the assembly our Lieutenant came to my classroom and gave a Power Point show to the children with many pictures of the submarine. The children were thrilled. They had many questions, especially about the whales and dolphins encountered at sea. We later received a letter from the submarine’s Captain explaining how much the sailors enjoyed the treats and the cards. It was a great way to show the children that helping others can be fun.

[Note: I wish I could show the faces of the children with their excitement. Even though I am retired now, I cannot post my student's faces on the internet.]

Read my 16 December 2011 Post: Christmas at School