Thanksgiving Spirit

With visions of cranberries and turkeys dancing in our heads, we thought that it would be fun to ask professional and amateur genealogists what they are thankful for at this time of the year, genealogically-speaking. Here's what some of them had to say:

I'm thankful for a grandmother who told me stories about her family; sang the old songs; taught me the dances she knew; shared old family recipes; and remembered names, dates and places so well that I was able to trace her ancestors with little difficulty. She also took me to the cemeteries and showed me where our people were buried. Grandmother gave me both wings and roots.
--Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG
I appreciate all of the volunteers at the Family History Centers who showed me the ropes and helped me order the records that I need. The same goes for the librarians and other helpful people that I've run into while doing my research all over the U.S.
--Lynn Chroust, Family Tree Maker customer
I'm thankful for the generations of my ancestors who struggled to survive in an often hostile world; I'm thankful they carved out an existence by farming inhospitable land; I'm thankful they moved out of secure family circles to explore new lands; I'm thankful they had babies, tended the sick and dying, and dealt with medical emergencies in a dauntless manner; I'm thankful they made their mark in history not by being famous for any special acts of heroism or bravery, but by simply surviving all that life had to throw at them. I am especially thankful that in today's world I can connect with so many other descendants of my ancestors using nothing more than a computer, modem, and Internet connection.
--Marthe Arends, editor of Online Pioneers
I'm thankful for the entire Family Tree Maker Online service. It enabled me to find a lost relative who had the 30+ years of research I needed, as census and other records had failed me. I will always be grateful to Family Tree Maker and Genealogy.com for the incredible boon this has been. I received information that has taken me months just to input and compile. What a find!
--Karl M. Heeren, Family Tree Maker customer
I'm thankful for my great grandmother who saved newspaper clippings such as birth notices, obituaries and such, in a giant scrapbook. When my aunt and I started to research the family, I photocopied the pages and then cut and sorted the clippings my family groups. We even were able to tie a lost branch into our family by finding their clippings among the 100's of others that she saved. Thank You great grandmother.
--Charlene Filipiak, Family Tree Maker customer
I'm thankful for all of the genealogists out there who are willing to help one another out and share information on message boards and in other places. I'm also thankful to have co-workers who can help me out with answering all of the questions that we get online!
--Paul Burchfield, Genealogy.com Technical Support Representative Extraordinaire
I would have to say that I'm thankful for a lot of things. Unfortunately, neither side of my family kept good records on my ancestors which has made my research a bit more difficult. I am thankful that one side did keep an old family Bible which did contain clues that have allowed me to find three more generations. On another side of my family, I was able to discover several generations through a distant relative that I met on the Internet. So, I am also very thankful for the willingness of people on the Internet to share invaluable information. Finally, I am thankful that I have a spouse who is also interested in genealogy and who puts up with all of the hours spent working on family history and with other genealogists.
--Matt Helm, Journal of Online Genealogy
It shouldn't be surprising to hear that I am thankful for:

Those who have made the records in the Family History Library available to everyone
The invention of the microfilm process
The invention of the microfilm and fiche copiers
The invention of the computer and programs to help in genealogy research
The invention of CD-ROM technology
Those tireless people who spent 1,000s of hours indexing names
Those people who had the knowledge to put those names into electronic format
All people everywhere who have shared their knowledge of research techniques, their family information, and their technical skills!
--Karen Clifford, AG