It is easy to float in and out of tracing your family history. There have been times where it sat on the sidelines for me, waiting to be revived. There have also been times (such as now) where it seems to consume most waking moments and spins me up and down rabbit holes, chasing after data that may or may not be helpful.
Each person has eight great grandparents, 16 2nd great-grandparents, 32 3rd great grandparents, 64 4th great grandparents, 128 5th great grandparents, etc. I currently know of approximately 40 ancestors that I share blood with, so there are still plenty of people to find.
Chasing them down has lead me to over 700 shirttail relatives, such as "father of sister-in-law of 3rd cousin to..." or "great-grandfather's second cousin once removed". They must have shared common experiences in Italy, Brazil, the United States or wherever they lived. Some of them show up on ship manifests, others on microfilmed records; many have numerous references or points of certainty, while others appear at the right time to fit into existing trees. They all had hopes and dreams.
Most of these have no direct relation to my family tree, but finding them means other records may exist and the hope of journeying farther back in time prevails.
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