Break Time, October 2013 and Review What the heck I'm doing with this blog!

I want to thank all those who are reading and the comments. Please feel free to comment or contact me anytime on any of these subjects. I was going over this blog.  I know this blog is really a me, me, me blog. My family etc.  Sorry about that but I know that subject view real well. It may not always be right and I can change my mind, (women are notorious for it) but what I am trying to share is what "LITTLE" I know or have learned just through researching my own family history.

Doc Boyles Family
 

My degree is in history and Appalachian studies. Why did I choose that? I wanted to understand this crazy family I have and their place in history. Other than the short stint as a legalized drug dealer, (which I made a lot of money at, but could not stand!!) I've worked in the "history" tourism/genealogy field for over 20 years. I helped many others find their roots in Appalachia that I could write about and maybe will in the future. But I wanted to focus first on my family. We have been here so long, my family truly is a conglomerate representing parts of the whole of Appalachia.

Our family is truly mixed mutt American. I can write about the roots of English, Irish, French, German, Dutch, Native American and other nationalities and their stories in my family.  In our family there were Lutherans, Catholics, Methodist, Anglicans, Baptists, (hard shell and soft) Presbyterians, Episcopalians, every occupation both good and illegal, and people on both sides of the Wars the U.S. has had within its borders.

 Every political persuasion is represented. My family is not any different than probably your family. The only difference is I'm writing about it and exposing so much.

As in any family story there are those that disagree with view points and that's ok. This family story, believe me, had opponents on opposite sides in wars and all types of issues even though we were VERY much kin!!! There are more Revolutionary War tales to tell and the Civil War tales are going to be fun to write. I hope I don't start another feud!!!

There is a comment section and I will definitely encourage dialogue. But be polite or I will delete it. There are going to be subjects that I am going to tackle such as the eugenics movement or the splitting up of churches, that some in my family would say, "Why do you want to bring up that old stuff for?"

Because that "old stuff" help me understand parts of my family history that didn't make sense at first. That "old stuff" helped me to understand fears in family history that I kept sensing in my family when they told stories. That "old stuff" help me actually heal and be whole again. To understand why, to know that history and to accept how it made us who we are today. Understanding that our current hardships, trials and wars, others before us in our family had like experiences too.....and they survived!!!

My mother used to tell me, "your life is a real gift. The blood that flows through you experienced every calamity that has ever befallen this earth and here you stand alive." She would then say, "Don't ever throw that gift away".  As our hearts beat, so do our ancestors hearts beat.

In uncovering this history, it is like the foundation of a house if its crumbling under the weight and buried under the ground. You dig it out, pull out the old to examine it to fix it. Figure out why it's crumbling. Doesn't mean you tear the house down, instead you find out what made it weak or crumble, understand it and make it stronger to last longer. You know what's under there because you dug it out.

I'm working on making headers at the top of the blog so that I can separate out the subjects and make blog posts easier to find on here. I have over 20 draft ideas in progress. But I am SLOW. But that's ok, do what I can do and I hope I get it all on here.......... eventually.