It's a Big Job (but someone ought to do it!)

As family trees go, ours is pretty big!

Here I am again after an inexcusably lengthy absence. Believe me when I say that it isn't due to any lack of desire to work on the family history that caused me to disappear off the blogosphere. Rather, there is the matter of personal limitations and just not having the time or ability to give it the attention I would like. A little explanation is in order, I think.

A little background about how this all came  to be.
I started a serious research of both my own family history* and that of my hubby back to the late 1990's. About 1997 to be precise. I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter when I got my first copy of Family Tree Maker (a gift from my in-laws). The genealogy bug bit me hard. I spent as much time as I could  researching often into the wee hours of the morning thanks to the easy accessibility of data on the internet.
*I had also dabbled in the family history in the mid-1970s when I was a teenager.

We bought a new house just a year later before my daughter was even walking. The stress of fixing up the old place to sell and then making the actual move was probably greater than I would have admitted at the time. However, I had my family history research as an outlet and in retrospect I know that there was a definite lack of balance in my life at that time.

At some point after our move, I really started to hone in on the BANEGAS genealogy, neglecting the other lines to a great degree. And neglecting just about everything else too! Around this time I made contact with Estevan B. Banegas who had done a tremendous amount of research on the family as well and we were able to combine our family trees.

Following a 1999 Banegas Reunion in California, I undertook the publication of a family newsletter. It was intended as a one-time thing, but it was so well-received that I decided to keep it going. Let me just say that that undertaking was a Very Big Job. There was the coming up with the content, laying it all out and having it professionally printed. Keeping the mailing list updated. Responding to the many lovely letters, emails and phone calls that resulted. Trying to make ends meet (because even though we received many donations to help offset the cost, it was always a labor of love and the funds received never met the funds expended). Not complaining here. I had lots of offers of help, always much appreciated. And I loved every minute of it.

Unfortunately, in about 2001 after a series of family and personal circumstances that were out of my control I had to put my research and the newsletter on a hiatus. In the ten years since then it has always been in the back of my mind. There has been a measure of guilt and feeling as thought I've let a lot of really great people down. However, I balance that with the knowledge that I had to take care of my household and do the responsible thing.

About five years ago I thought I was ready to start again and got this blog going. Apparently, I was not ready. But here I sit older and wiser (I hope). So, now my plan is to do what I can do. Seems reasonable.

Let's see if I am ready now...