My great-grandmother, Helen, left nothing up to interpretation in her high school yearbook. Portland High School asked the senior class of 1921 to list their post-graduate ambition. One of Helen’s classmates wrote, “To go to college.” Another wrote “To achieve success.” Helen wrote: To get what I want when I want it.
I never met her, but Helen sounded like a straight-shooter. My uncle said that in old age, Helen was witty and the “sweetest women ever.” He said she was hilarious. Apparently, she was a baller, too. I love basketball. One of my favorite things to do is go to the campus recreation center first thing in the morning and shoot in a silent gym. I didn’t know that passion came from Helen over 100 years ago!
What hobbies did your grandparents, great-grandparents, or great-great-grandparents have that you might share? There are opportunities to find out through research, and if you already know, I would love to hear them!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my posts and for subscribing. It truly means the world to me that you like what “Genealogy Jack” has to share and I sure hope you’ve taken things away from what you have read over the past seven months.
Jack Palmer has done genealogy research since he was ten years old and loves writing about it for anybody who might enjoy his research stories and tips. He graduated from Duke University in May 2023, majoring in History and Psychology, and is the author of Helen & Frank: A Biography, a biography about his great-grandparents.
