I’m a Big Fan!

Baseball and ancestors

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a huge baseball fan. I love everything about “the national pastime” ¹ – playing the game, going to games, visiting stadiums, playing fantasy baseball, collecting memorabilia, etc. I enjoy the game so much that I used to list it as my only hobby.

But that changed in 2014. Since then, I have also become a big fan of genealogy. Now, in addition to the various forms of my baseball addiction, I spend as much time as possible searching for the records that document the stories of my ancestors.

Genealogy fandom

So how did I become a genealogy fan? For most of my life, I believed that my family history consisted only of the stories that were told and re-told around the dining table during holidays and other special family occasions. As years passed and life happened, I began to wonder more about the lives of the people who were featured in these family anecdotes. So, as a genealogy newbie, I signed up on Ancestry.com and set out to discover as much as I could about them. It didn’t take me long to get really hooked.

As I learned more about the lives of my immediate family, I was surprised to find more records that traced back to more generations of great-grandparents and other relatives whose names I had never heard spoken. Yes, I do enjoy the thrill of locating records documenting my ancestors’ relationships and and their lives. I suppose every genealogy fan does. But what truly captivates me is the genealogy community’s absolute insistence on evidence to support all claims. I was a science teacher. I like and respect evidence. It’s a good match for me.

February 1st is a double “fan” day

For those of you who don’t consider yourselves fans of baseball or genealogy, you may not be aware of today’s significance to someone like me. You see, today is important to baseball’s fandom because it marks the final countdown to Spring Training. That’s right, there are only 28 more days until the first pitches are thrown in Cactus and Grapefruit League Spring Training games. You can bet that this fan will be marking off the days on the calendar until March 1st.

Today is also important to genealogy fans everywhere. ConferenceKeeper and Geneabloggers have proclaimed today as the first ever #GenealogySelfie Day. In an effort to foster a greater sense of community, the organizers are encouraging thousands of genealogy fans to share selfie-pics today on Facebook and Twitter.

So, dear readers, this blog post is my contribution acknowledging my love of both baseball and genealogy. These are my hobbies and today is my double “fan” day.

P.S. If you’re one of my Facebook friends or Twitter followers, you’ll find my #GenealogySelfie there.