WHAT IF?

What if I hadn’t started my family tree research in 1989?
What if my Aunt Fannie hadn’t saved the 125 letters my grandparents received from relatives abroad in the old country?
What if cousin Harry hadn’t lived to translate them?
What if I hadn’t taken it a step further and gone out of my way to find all the long-lost relatives and gotten together with many of them?
What if we hadn’t continued to be in communication?
What if we hadn’t shared in each other’s milestone events?
Then, evil would have won.
We are so blessed.

What if I hadn’t included my family tree research to include all the ancestors of my children? What if I hadn’t reached out to unknown relatives? What if I hadn’t gotten to hear all the relatives I found tell about their ancestors, who were also our flesh and blood? What if we hadn’t joined in on family reunions on various sides of the family? What if we hadn’t introduced our children to as many cousins as we could find? What if I hadn’t kept up the communication by starting and keeping up with a newsletter to keep everyone informed about all our relatives? Then, inefficiency would have won. We are so blessed.

What if I hadn’t started my blog post? What if I hadn’t been able to keep a journal just by writing weekly about various people or times in my life without thinking, “I have to write in my journal today?” What if I hadn’t used my creative juices to input significant photographs or other graphics in my blog posts?
What if I hadn’t “talked” with friends and relatives more frequently than I otherwise would have after they were reminded to read and comment on my blog post each and every week by an email highlighted with the subject: “It’s Tuesday?”
What if I hadn’t honed my writing skills making it possible for me to compose and publish my personal blog posts without unsolicited editing for space or content?
What if I hadn’t used the same freedom to express myself, and developed the ability to give others “food for thought,” as I have done for over one year by writing a thought provoking blog post each and every Tuesday? Then, insecurity would have won.
We are so blessed.

There’s a lesson to be learned. What if?