iPentimento | Genealogy and History

That’s a pretty melodramatic-sounding title to this post, but it’s the truth, at least in my mind. In 1993 I had what was suppose to be a out-patient minor surgery. What really happened was that it caused a major flare-up to my fibromyalgia. I didn’t know I had fibromyalgia, and I suspect I have had it all my life since the symptoms and signs were there even when I was a little girl. It was my good friend Sheryl who finally suggested that it might be fibromyalgia. The doctors had no clue, and one mistakenly gave me a broad spectrum antibiotic that just about killed me. I was shaky, my mind was in a major fog, and I was so depressed because I didn’t know what was happening to me, and I needed something to focus on to take my mind off how bad I was feeling.

We got our first computer in 1994, and at almost that same time I found Family Tree Maker to use for my genealogical research. At the time, we were still on dial-up for our ISP, and the amount of online genealogical records were sparse at best. I was not to be deterred though! I was adding people to my family tree (and my husband’s) at a frenetic pace. Almost every day I added new cousins as my letters and emails got results. It was like I was in a race to get as much information from as many of the older generations as I could before they weren’t around to talk to anymore.

I still have fibromyalgia, and some days I don’t do genealogical research at all. But, I have a Yates family book that I have shared with my family, as well as a plethora of great cousins who have helped me put the family puzzle pieces together. In my opinion, genealogy saved my life because if I hadn’t had it to focus on through those terrible days, months and years, I probably would have given up living altogether. Yes, I was that depressed.

A recent article at Genealogy Insider, Time to Talk About Your Family Health History, prompted me to write this article. It made me think of my dark first days of my fibro flare-up in 1993, and how I came through it using my obsession interest in genealogy.

Do you add health history to your family trees? I have added some when I knew for sure what caused the death. I think it’s an important key to add to the family file. It could mean the world to your descendants, couldn’t it?

You might also want to visit my other pages:

Wilkerson, Yates and Allied Families(Family Tree Maker Personal Page)

Wilkerson and Allied Families (Ancestry)

Yates and Allied Families (Ancestry)