What happens to your “stuff” when you’re gone? I know some would say, “Well, I’m not going to be here, so I don’t care.” Fair enough comment. You’re not going to come back and collect your stuff, are you? Of course, this can open up a few things within different cultures.
Just think, if you took your “stuff” with you, what would happen? An example would be ALL your money. I’m sure you can imagine the uproar from the “so-called” relatives! I’ll leave this thought with you to ponder.
When it comes to your hobby of Family History, what will happen to ALL your research? Will it just be tossed into a skip and lost forever? All those hours of your hard work to discover “things” about your ancestors – ALL gone forever. Then, we have the online trees – what happens with them? Do you have a plan? I’ll come back to that later.
Stories.
What about all your stories, that you have collected, mostly in your head? When you’re gone, so are the stories.
I can never understand why some family historians do not want to record these stories for future generations. What are they ashamed of? What are they hiding? I know it’s not for everyone, but quite a number of those who I have encountered don’t want to keep a record of their stories. Or, is it that they are just not bothered? Family Historians are Storytellers. They are not a collector of names, dates and places – well, some are, it’s sad to say!
Nobody.
I want to encourage every person, even if you aren’t into family history, to record, in some way, your stories. Start with you. You may not believe your story is important because you believe you’re a nobody. How wrong can you be?
Every person on this planet is somebody and you have to realise it. Your story is only part of the history of this planet. Most never get noticed. Why? First, they never wrote their story. They weren’t a celebrity; nor an influencer; nor rich; nor famous. History is full of these and not the “real” people. We can change that, so get writing, recording, filming – whichever media you like to use and build your story. In saying this, remember, this all becomes part of “your stuff”, please don’t let it get tossed away too.
Beware.
Things to be aware of: If you think that…
1. Your family history Society
2. local library
3. state archive
4. national archive
5. local history organisation
OR even gnomes… are, or would be, interested in your research, you will be sadly mistaken for the same reason already mentioned – you are a nobody.
Somebody.
If you were somebody, then just maybe. Things you need to understand is, it’s mostly about storage space and the cost involved. Think about your “stuff” and how much you have. Times this by whatever number of others that have the same “stuff” to calculate how much storage space would be needed. Then, there’s the cost of the upkeep of all those records. So, you can now see the big picture. It’s not easy. Hence, “stuff” gets tossed out! Maybe there is somebody out there who may want to continue your work.
Plan.
So, what’s the plan…
Write a Family History request into your WILL. Your hard work may still get tossed but at least you made a request.
Suggestions.
Here are some suggestions to get you thinking about your “stuff” and how not to have it tossed out.
- Label family history boxes with “Please do not destroy.”
- Make copies of all important documents AND research.
- Any online trees: mention passwords, user name(s) etc., in your Will OR record them in a book AND tell someone where the book is AND what’s in it.
- There are printed books that can be used to record important information – some have humorous titles like, “Where I buried the bodies.”
- Ask current family members, if any of them are interested in Family History or more to the point, “Where they came from?” OR “Who they came from?”
- Make copies of ALL family trees – if electronic, send them to relatives, NOW! Remember, if they are password protected, make sure you advise them the password. I believe you could make several copies and use separate passwords for each copy.
CREATE YOUR PLAN, NOW – not later!
- If your information and your tree is saved to the Cloud, tell someone. Write this in your Will.
- If you keep a tree on your computer , save it daily and tell someone where to find the password. Where and in which book did you record this information?
NOTE: There are most likely other ways to record your “stuff”. Please, share your ideas in the comments.
As you can see, I repeat myself in the above suggestions.
How else can I get it across to you about your “stuff”?
REMEMBER when you’re gone, so is all your “stuff”.
GO DO YOUR PLAN, NOW!
Acknowledgements:
Nobody & Somebody pics generated by Leonardo.Ai
All other pics from WordPress, Pexel.
Ancestor Family 
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