Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1471377
| LIFE IN SOLERA | JULY 2022 | 21 The Importance of Genealogy Many people go their whole lives without knowing who or what their ancestors are or were. However, they may have missed some important information about their families, such as the identification of medical conditions passed down from generation to generation. These can be found via a person's DNA analysis. Many genealogy sites, such as Ancestry.com, 23 and Me, etc. can provide some of this type of information, if you avail yourselves of their services. Another area is the determination of heirs for individuals that may die without a will or trust to specify heirs. I was recently contacted by an investigator working for an attorney to determine the very situation. It turns out a second cousin of mine was very sick and they had no living heirs and no medical power of attorney so they were trying to identify a possible next of kin to fill this role. They found a connection in my tree that is online and contacted me to get more information on possible heirs which provided what they wanted to know. Then of course there is the fun side of genealogy research, finding someone famous in your family tree. Maybe that will be an entertainer of note, or a well-known entrepreneur, or a president (I have 13 in my tree), or you have someone in the peerage or royalty (Queen Elizabeth is my 17th cousin 1x removed). These are the fun facts about your family tree that makes the efforts to construct your family tree worth the time and effort. Let's not forget about a tree with historical significance, such as being related to someone on the Mayflower, or a distant relative who fought in our civil war, or they were a pioneer in the 1700 or 1800s that went west via wagon train or helped build the transcontinental railroad, or were related to one of the Founding Fathers of this country of ours. All of these things can be learned as you progress building your family tree. If you start now, you will know about your family and you will have a gift for your children and their children. Remember, doing your family tree is like a treasure hunt where the precious nuggets are those interesting facts about your ancestors and what they were and where they lived. ~ Bill Cramsie ANCESTRY GROUP