Giving Thanks: I am thankful for genealogy.

All my life I've known who I am, because some of my family members, mostly my grandmother, great-grandmother, and a couple of genealogy-obsessed cousins, documented our family history. I know that I am a descendant of people who came to the American continent seeking freedom. Some came before the revolutionary war and fought for freedom from tyranny. Many came later, to practice freedom of religion. They came from England, Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, and Norway. My great-great-grandparents left their home in Norway.

And eventually homesteaded in Idaho and lived here.

Along the way, they lost a 3-year-old child as they were crossing the Atlantic, and a newborn baby as they were crossing Wyoming. I've often wondered if I would have been strong enough to do what they did. They sacrificed so much, so that now, I have so much. I'm thankful that I know who these people are, and all that they did. Someday I will tell them that in person.