3435 Does Charity really begin at home?

Two recent issues of Kiplinger's used this phrase to mean teaching children to be charitable, so that's what I'll address, although I always thought it meant giving close to home.

In my experience, demonstrating or teaching charity doesn't necessarily mean the lesson is understood or acted upon. I think it depends on whether the person (the grown up child of charitable parents) is active in a community of faith--a church, synagogue or mosque. Based on what I've observed in our family, a real mixed bag of church membership and attendance, and recent research, generosity and charity are tied closely to faith, not what you learned as a child.

Between us, my husband and I have six siblings, two adult children, and fourteen nieces and nephews. We had six parents (his were divorced and remarried), and I knew four of my grandparents and two great grandparents, and he knew three of his grandparents (his grandfather was widowed quite young). So that's my tiny sample which ranges from 7th to 10th generation American.

I knew my paternal great-grandparents (d. 1949 and 1963), but know little about their finances except that they lived modestly and were generous with their grandchildren. Great-grandma Leanor not only slipped candy to us, but gave my father a downpayment to buy his first house in the late-1930s. My great-grandfather (mother's side) was a very generous donor--he gave money to build the Wichita Church of the Brethren in the early 20th century, but lived in Illinois, and contibuted real estate in Chicago to the church to build a hospital. My husband's maternal grandparents and my maternal grandparents were very strong, active church members, his were Presbyterians and mine Church of the Brethren. They were also generous donors to the church and to various causes, and helped out family members, too.

My husband's parents (both couples) were wonderful people, but neither continued with the Presbyterian tradition, or any church involvement after childhood. If they ever donated to anything, it would have been something like Cancer Society, Lung Association or a buck for someone walking the neighborhood for March of Dimes. They didn't take their children to church, but my husband's grandparents took over. My parents remained active in the Church of the Brethren, and baptized and raised their children in that denomination. I don't know what went on later in their life, but when I was a young adult, I know they were giving about 15% of their income. My father scared us in his mid-80s when he decided to gather up donations and take them in his van (driving alone) to an Indian reservation in the Dakotas. My parents cancelled each others' votes at the polls, but were both very generous with church, community organizations and family members.

My husband and I have tithed our gross income for over 30 years, but we gave very little to anything when we weren't members. I think three of our six siblings are also active in churches and generously contribute--we're all there for worship weekly and participate in various ministries. Then we have two siblings who might be in a church for a baptism, funeral or wedding, but don't attend or give. They are more than generous with immediate family, however. One sib is missing in action, and we haven't seen him in years; it's my thought if he can't make it to a family dinner or answer his phone, he's probably not going to church either.

Moving on down the family tree, our own two children don't attend church and don't contribute to a church, and probably donate very little to any community organization. Of our 14 nieces and nephews I think 4 are active members in a church, and although I've never asked, I'm guessing they all are more generous than the ones who don't have a church home. Two of them (children of the MIA sib) have spiraled downward into low income jobs, out of wedlock babies and government assistance. Their own parents (divorced) had no involvement in church as children or as adults, and when this niece and nephew did attend church, it was with their aunts and uncles, because their grandparents also didn't attend.

Randy Alcorn says ". . . fifteen percent of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions. He spoke about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined. The only subject Jesus spoke of more often is the Kingdom of God. Why? Because the Scriptures make clear there is a fundamental connection between a person's spiritual life and his attitudes and actions concerning money and possessions."

You can take a child to church, but you can't give him your faith. And charitable behavior stems from the faith. If it has worked out differently in your family, God bless 'em. It won't get anyone into heaven, but it will help some organization's bottom line.

3434 Global warming vs. climate change

One is a political, social and economic juggernaut designed to bring down global investments, high employment and capitalism, requiring hysteria and lemming like behavior; the other is a scientific, measurable fact, something that has been going on since Ohio was covered with glaciers, Lake Erie was flooding Cleveland, and Greenland was green, requiring some humility, hard science and common sense.

Animal rights vs. animal welfare

One is a political movement designed to bring down or stop medical research and pharmaceutical companies, various industries and capitalism in general; the other is a compassionate, moral and scientifically sound way to treat animals for the best interests of people.

Feminism vs. women's rights

One is a far reaching political movement designed to stomp out certain patriarchal cultures and behaviors by replacing them with matriarchal forms just as repressive and capitalism in general; the other suggests that although not a better or more moral species, women have a lot to offer society especially in government and business.

Pro-choice vs. pro-life

One is a political movement in which struggling people fearing loss of convenience and power, destroy the weakest and most frail, often with cruel and painful methods, choosing death today; the other is a spiritual movement in which struggling people decide to do what is difficult today, believing that life is sacred, choosing death 90 years from now.

Undocumented workers vs. illegal aliens

One is a political and social term used by most politicians, business CEOs and union officials, all looking for more votes, higher profits, or more members; the other is the term the rest of us use for the people flooding across our borders, swamping our social services, taking our jobs and sending money back to their villages to prop up a corrupt and failing government, primarily run by people of Spanish European ancestry whose ancestors used to control most of North and South America and now want it back.

Technorati: climate change, global warming, animal rights, abortion change, illegal aliens

3433 Good advice

We're in the second month of 2007 and I'm still up with my New Year's Resolution, which was to read through the Bible. I'm using the NIV The One Year Bible (1986, Tyndale). Sometimes it is necessary to have "the talk," and just look what Proverbs 6:30-26 (today's selection) provides us parents! Thousands of years old and it is right on the mark.

My son,
keep your father's commands and
do not forsake your mother's teaching.
Bind them upon your heart forever;
fasten them around your neck.
When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
For these commands are a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,
keeping you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes,
for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

Wow, God. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Poetry Thursday #5

Today's assignment--a poem with math terms. Plane geometry in my sophomore year in high school was the only math class I ever liked. So here's the poem.

In geometry class
by Norma Bruce
Feb. 1, 2007

You're the only one I ever loved.
Degenerate and full of sin--
your height, your legs
and references to horizontal.
I so me try.

It wasn't meant to be.
I was too square and plane--
just a double cone
melting under Golden spiral rays.
I some try.

You were one dimensional,
between radical and mean,
with just the line
to touch my obtuse midpoint--
Is o me try.

Before I go on a tangent--
Upon reflection
I no longer flip over your
face or cute little axis.
You are zero to me now.

Poetry Thursday
Poetry
American poetry
geometry

3431 More on early retirement

Seems I was the only one who thought Sheryl McCarthy in the Forum section of USA Today was expecting too much protectionism for her older worker status yesterday. The comments following her Opinion forum tell some mighty sad stories of well-qualified, highly educated and superior employees put out to pasture much too early.

So was I just being an old meany, or did I have a little personal experience? Let me offer three examples, as the spouse of an unemployed worker, the superviser doing the hiring, and the government employment trainer.

My husband lost his job in 1976 while he was still in his 30s. It's terribly traumatic when you've got two little kids to feed and clothe and a mortgage, car payment, etc. but no job. We were not a two income family, we had a tiny savings for emergencies, and the paycheck stretched to about the 29th of the month. You've heard of the Great Depression? 1977-79 was the era of The Great Inflation (Carter was president and I think we had a Democratic congress). In the building trades, we were dead in the water a few years before the worst recession since the 1930s (1981-82, until Reagan got his tax cuts in place and turned things around). Big firms were gobbling up jobs they would have sneered at even two years earlier, leaving nothing for the smaller firms. My husband was only out of work three weeks, but emotionally it took years for him to recover. He was griped by fear and lost a lot of weight dropping below 130 lbs. Although he was hired by a good firm and eventually became a partner and owner, the personal dynamics were awful (and he's a very easy guy to get along with), but the earlier scare kept him there until 1994 when he left to start his own firm as sole practitioner.

In 1978 I took a wonderful contract, part-time position in the OSU agriculture library working in the agricultural credit field and there was enough money in the grant (Dept. of State) for me to hire a clerical assistant to do the typing, binding of documents, and filing. One of the candidates I interviewed was 10 years older than me and taking post graduate work to get a PhD in economics (my background was languages, not business). She was desperate for a job--any job. She was so incredibly over qualified it wasn't funny, and she hoped she'd left clerical work in her past. I hired a work-study undergrad. I simply didn't feel comfortable supervising a woman better educated and older than me--but I also believe it was not a job for a PhD candidate. The 19 year old loved it, did a terrific job because she had had many similar jobs (and I was a great boss), graduated and moved on.

In 1983, just as the economy was starting to pick up, I took a JTPA (formerly CETA) funded contract, part-time position with the Ohio Department of Aging helping agencies and organizations who would retrain older people to find new jobs. Many businesses hadn't made it through those bad years of the late 70s early 80s and older workers had trouble even preparing resumes. I learned two critical things about older workers: First, we can learn new skills and methods, but after age 25 it's like teaching a child with learning disabilities--it takes longer and needs to be approached from a variety of angles; Second, if you're unemployed and going to look for work, you need to put in 40 hours a week looking--your new job is to get a job. The way you submit resumes is different today, but you still need to get down to business immediately and not let up on the search.

Because I had so many part-time and temporary jobs, I've also learned over the years that when you're gone, it's over. Don't expect office or professional friendships to last unless there is something besides work holding it together, like church or hobbies. They'll all be trying to hang on to their jobs too, needing current professional contacts that can assist them. You'll have fewer hurt feelings and remorse if you just let it go.

3430 Goal!

It's been four months, but today I got to the 20 lb weight loss. I call it my "broadband" gain--I put on 20 lbs not when I retired, but when we got RoadRunner and I started blogging in October 2003 (now have 10 blogs). Way too much sitting--much more than when I worked. I hadn't lost an ounce since early December, then in the last 8 or 9 days, lost 3 lbs. In 1983 I lost 20 pounds after I joined an aerobic dance class--nothing happened for about 6 months. It was great fun, and I loved the class, but eventually there were scheduling problems, instructors changed, I went back to work, etc., and the pounds started to return. In 1993 I had to shave a few pounds for my daughter's wedding. Both of those times I was thinner than today, but I was also younger. Fat is a natural filler for wrinkles, and a cushion for blog bottoms. So, I don't think I'll go any lower.

3429 Temperature's dropping

I've been getting a lot of hits to my frozen car door entry, sometimes 12 a day. Today a Canadian reader left me a message to check out this gadget. For all I know, he owns the company, but if you're having problems, at least take a look.

3428 A message from the troops' families

"Our men and women in harms way cannot afford the U.S. to be sending defeatist news to them. It only gives encouragement and emboldens our enemies - the terrorists! Now is the time for Americans to Unite and speak out for a successful completion of the mission in Iraq and Afghanistan. Success that would ensure the security for the future of the U.S.

I ask you today to write/email/call your congressional leaders. Encourage them to drop the Nonbinding Resolution - it will serve only 1 purpose - to further endanger the men and women who have placed their lives on the line for us - for freedom! We need to challenge Congress to look at all the consequences of failure - and start talking WINNING! You can't win a Super Bowl if you don't play the last quarter! You certainly cannot win a war if you speak as though you've already lost."

Families United

Here's a surprise

Would you survive in the wild? Your Result: Yesiree!....   You could live in the wild if you wanted to! You know what to eat, do, and stay away from! You could get shelter, food, water fast and easy-and the right treatments to injuries, snake bites etc...You know the outdoors like the back of your hand!!
Wouldn't last 2 minutes!.....
Maybe........
Not to sure...
Most likely you'll survive....
Would you survive in the wild? Quizzes for MySpace

HT Born Again Redneck

3426 A warning about attacks against children

I don't like to post things that I haven't researched, so I'll direct you over to American Daughter and let Nancy explain how she got this very scary information.

3425 Unintended consequences

of the women's movement and drumming up support for choice thirty years ago.

". . . according to the intermediate projections of the Social Security Trustees, by 2030--by which time most of the baby boomers will have retired--the ratio of those of working age to those sixty-five and older will have fallen from five to about three. By that time, older Americans will constitute about 19 percent of the U.S. population, a greater share than of the population of Florida today." Ben Bernanke, Remarks, "The Coming Demographic Transition: Will We Treat Future Generations Fairly?" The Washington Economic Club, Washington, D.C., October 4, 2006

3424 Too young to retire?

Sheryl McCarthy in the Forum section of USA Today (1-31-07) writes about the woes of being a pushed-out, down-sized journalist living on income from part-time jobs and free lancing who wants a "real job." She writes,

". . . we're being prematurely marginalized, even though we have skills that are useful to the economy" and she wants "U.S. companies to stop discriminating against willing and qualified older workers for the jobs that are available."

No, Sheryl, your journalism skills, your network of contacts, your technological know-how, and your cultural mind-set are no longer useful to U.S. newspapers, magazines, and the publishing industry in general. Even some of the facts you supply for your article, don't support your argument, such as there are more people over 55 working full time today than a decade ago, and that the search time to find a job for 50+ is only 15 days longer than younger workers. And lack of mobility could have a lot to do with that.

You mention in your article that before age 58 you worked 17 years for the same newspaper, watching others being shown the door, then it happened to you. You've known this was coming for almost two decades, and what did you do? How long did you think the party would go on before the bar closed? You are a baby boomer. From the time you entered kindergarten, every public service, agency and church in the country from your public school, to the college and universities, to the county and state agencies to the federal government have been looking out for you, opening doors for you with new rules and regulations and adjusting projections and benefits.

When you were 35, how many younger workers, the new grads, did you mentor? How many older workers were you including in your lunch get-togethers or focus groups? Were you adding your older co-workers to task groups you chaired, or helping them in workshops, or stepping aside so they could get the career advancement at your expense? I doubt it.

Step into the shoes for 5 minutes of the HR person (whose job is also on the line daily). MPOW employs 20 people in the writing and communications department, and one person retired whose salary and benefits cost the firm $75,000. The HR reviews 3 candidates, all with strong resumes.

• 1) New college grad (2006), salary range begins about $35,000 + benefits, has huge college loans to pay, still young enough to want to pursue other goals and locales if the opportunity were to come up--maybe Mumbai or LA.
• 2) Recent college grad (ca. 2001) with four solid years of work experience, some post-graduate courses, no unexplained absenses in the work record with former employer (which could indicate health problems or lack of commitment to the career); glowing references including names known to HR person (similar age), and some web and software design experience; salary range begins at about $43,000.
• 3) 58 year old who graduated from Columbia in the early 1970s, very strong resume with reputable journals and newspaper all in the metropolitan Northeastern U.S., now all defunct; can use a laptop and PC but has few other computer skills; no recent course work or foreign assignments; wants $60,000 to even start talking, because "I'm worth it" attitude.

Well, I'd choose #2--she's not green or showing up for work still in party mode, but has useful work experience with a solid network and HR hopes she'll stick around and help the company grow. There's enough money in the piggy bank to hire her with some left over for a part-timer or free lancer who won't require benefits--maybe that #3 candidate who also applied for the job. HR gets a bonus for hiring smart.

older workers
employment discrimination
ageism

Tax cuts soak the rich

Not really, but the tax cuts on capital gains of 2003 increased tax revenues by 68%, according to the Congressional Budget Office. I've been looking for a good summary rather than the huge report for a link. But here's a graph of just how far off the CBO has been in their estimates. The forecast for 2006 was $57 billion, but actual receipts were $110 billion. Maybe they were weather forecasters in an earlier life?

So what happened? Lowering the rate, according the WSJ, provided incentive to sell, and that meant money to reinvest which meant more growth, which meant more jobs, which meant more taxes for our Congress to spend.

Even if it means more tax money, it still makes Democrats mad because they don't want anyone in the top percentage of wealth (except Kerry and Edwards) to get a break. So they're still talking about repealing the "tax break for the rich." They'll have some 'splaining to do since the rich now pay even more.

Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts—and the Facts. Check the full story at Heritage Foundation

Myth #1: Tax revenues remain low.
Fact: Tax revenues are above the historical average, even after the tax cuts.

Myth #2: The Bush tax cuts substantially reduced 2006 revenues and expanded the budget deficit.
Fact: Nearly all of the 2006 budget deficit resulted from additional spending above the baseline.

Myth #3: Supply-side economics assumes that all tax cuts immediately pay for themselves.
Fact: It assumes replenishment of some but not necessarily all lost revenues.

Myth #4: Capital gains tax cuts do not pay for themselves.
Fact: Capital gains tax revenues doubled following the 2003 tax cut.

Myth #5: The Bush tax cuts are to blame for the projected long-term budget deficits.
Fact: Projections show that entitlement costs will dwarf the projected large revenue increases.

Myth #6: Raising tax rates is the best way to raise revenue.
Fact: Tax revenues correlate with economic growth, not tax rates.

Myth #7: Reversing the upper-income tax cuts would raise substantial revenues.
Fact: The low-income tax cuts reduced revenues the most.

Myth #8: Tax cuts help the economy by "putting money in people's pockets."Fact: Pro-growth tax cuts support incentives for productive behavior.

Myth #9: The Bush tax cuts have not helped the economy.
Fact: The economy responded strongly to the 2003 tax cuts.

Myth #10: The Bush tax cuts were tilted toward the rich.
Fact: The rich are now shouldering even more of the income tax burden.

Can cartoons help you understand our monetary system?

The New York Federal Reserve Bank has been publishing educational cartoon booklets for 50 years. Saturday’s WSJ had an article about them, and noted that some are pretty good, and some not so. The writer thought some were suitable for younger children than the age rating. I browsed the catalog, and the prices are very reasonable--quantity for classroom use, and I think they would be great for libraries and homeschoolers. My public library doesn't own any of them, but I've sent the suggestion to their round file.

Titles in the comic book series as of the NY Fed website in 1999 included:

The Story of Banks;
The Story of Checks and Electronic Payments;"
The Story of Monetary Policy;
The Story of Money;
Too Much, Too Little, (on the origins of the Federal Reserve System);
A Penny Saved;
Once Upon A Dime;
The Story of Foreign Trade and Exchange;
The Story of the Federal Reserve System.

But more have been added at the catalog home page:

The Story of Consumer Credit,
The Story of Inflation,
Wishes and Rainbows (supplement to a film, Boston Federal Reserve)

While I was looking for these titles in the computer catalog of the PL, I again faced the frustration of its messed up alphabetic sort system--some titles that begin with "THE" sort that way--not all, just enough of them to throw off your search. "The story of banks" brings up "The world. . .", "Thea's", and "Theater." Other times you actually need the word "The" or the title doesn't appear. Also in searching "Federal Reserve" as an author, I learned that its economic periodical the library used to own is now available on-line, but the catalog doesn't provide the hot link. Any library software that can't hot link to free publications needs to upgrade.

Can't wait for the cartoon version? Read in the Jan-Feb 2007 issue of Review (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) "Understanding the Fed," by William Poole.

Educate yourself, your organization, your employees, your ethnic or religious group or your students with these resources, cited in Ben Bernanke's Testimony about Financial Literacy before the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, May 2006--tours, workshops, curriculum packages, essay contests, DVD and video instruction.

Federal Reserve Banks
Federal Reserve System
monetary policy
cartoon books
financial education

3421 Good, must read summary of Iraq options and politics

Although the Wall Street Journal is rated the most liberal among MSM for its general news coverage, you can find an alternate view on the editorial page and Readers' Comments. Today has two excellent editorials, one by Bret Stephens on "Options in Iraq," and the other by Fouad Ajami on "The American Iraq."

Stephens points out the five most popular options for the war: 1) Withdraw immediately (Murtha); 2) Cap the troop levels at 140,000 and withdraw by January 2009 before she takes over as President (HR Clinton); 3) Redeploy with limited missions and seek diplomatic openings with Syria and Iran (Hagel and Biden); 4) Advocate for partititon of Iraq (Peter Galbraith); 5) Surge troop numbers in toughest areas and keep them there indefinitely (President Bush), the only strategy of the five that aims at victory, or gives the Iraqi people a chance not just for democracy, but a life.

I never hear the war protestors or the peace advocates count the cost of the Iraqi people for the first four options. Terrorists and insurgents are Muslims (Sunnis and Shia) killing each other--many women and children. Why would they stop if the US troops left? This has been going on since about the 7th century--long before George Bush looked at the Clinton administration's intelligence information for WMD and decided in Saddam's hands they were a threat. The anti-war types hide behind a phony concern for "our troops."

There are centuries of hostility between Shia and Sunni according to Ajami's article. Even if we left tomorrow, the Genie will not go back in the bottle. "The old notion that the Sunnis of Iraq were a martial race while the Shia were marked for lamentations and political grievance has been broken for good."

3420 Home Alone

Normally, I would post this at Coffee Spills, where yesterday's entry would lead you to a great site for alpaca clothing. However, this blog is my "opinion journal," so today I want to mention here what I overheard there.

I was at my usual spot at Panera's, listening to classical music, enjoying the fire and reading the Wall St. Journal. Two women I see there about once a week sat at the next table, also by the fire, our chairs nearly touching. I hear them talking, then realize one woman is talking quietly on her cell phone to her son, who is still at home waiting to be picked up by the school bus. It's dark in central Ohio at 6:30 a.m., and today is bitterly cold. She's sweetly reminding him to open the front door so the bus driver knows he is in the house, and to be sure the porch light is on. She also reminds him to turn off the TV before he leaves, and then she signs off with something lovey-dovey, and starts to chat with her friend.

I hear her tell her tablemate that she and her kids communicate better by e-mail and IM than they do face to face. Gee, I wonder why?

And I have tears in my eyes thinking about a little boy at home alone, in the dark, waiting for the school bus while Mom enjoys a cinnamon crunch bagel and coffee with a friend. Did he have breakfast? Does he need to review the spelling words? Will the dog get out? Will he "forget" to wear his gloves?

3419 The Presidential Prayer Team

Dear John: I'm more than happy to be a team member, to pray daily for our President, the Congress, SCOTUS, and all the bureaucrats. However, I'm not going to send you money. Nope. Absolutely not. I believe I've given and given and given. Not that I haven't gotten a lot back, mind you. Love those interstates, national parks, libraries, a clean Lake Erie and the refund I'll get this year for the Spanish American War phone tax. But for prayer, well, it just seems a little tacky to ask for money for something the Bible tells us to do. Sincerely, Norma

3418 Helen Shapiro

While I was preparing dinner, the TV was on in the living room and I walked in to see what the movie was--I heard a young man's voice I didn't recognize. It was (I think) a 1961 or 62 movie, but the young man was a teen-age girl. I thought it was a put on, but my husband insisted it wasn't that kind of movie. "I think she's British and she just has a deep voice." I went back to cooking and insisting that was a man's voice. When the credits scrolled I jotted down her name and looked her up on Google. I was so wrong! Helen Shapiro, in the early 60s was the top female pop artist in Britain, shared the stage with the Beatles, was on the Ed Sullivan Show and recorded "It's my party" before Leslie Gore did, but it wasn't promoted. She was a teen-age phenom, and still has a following as a jazz singer.

In 1987 she became a Christian and you can see her current material at her website Manna Music.

Helen as a teen-ager--and what a deep voice! You'll see why I was confused.

Cold, cold city, this Columbus

It's a bit nippy--23 F, wind chill 10 F. My fingers are stiff. The thermostat is a room away, and God only knows where Al Gore and his hot air bandwagon are. So the cat jumps up in my lap while I type, and for awhile I have warm thighs. . . and lots of cat hair as she settles in for a long winter's nap.


Cat hair on the keyboard
cat hair on the floor
cat hair in the vacuum
It won't hold anymore.

Cat hair on the bedspread
cat hair in the sink
cat hair on my best clothes
and not just where you'd think.

Cat hair on my shoulders
cat hair in the pears,
cat hair up the stair well
and on the dining chairs.

Cat o mine, I love you
could not do without
But keep your hair, dear heart,
and not so round about.

Monday Memories--digitized ancestors

There are not many in my immediate family interested in genealogy, but if I point, they'll look. I want to mention a wonderful source for your memories available only through your public library (if it subscribes), The HeritageQuest Online, a book collection made up of 7,922 family histories, 12,035 local histories and 258 primary sources with the 1790-1930 census images. It has been on microfilm for some years, but few libraries owned it because of the high cost. It is a ProQuest product and can be accessed at subscribing libraries (I use Upper Arlington Public Library) or by remote access using your own computer and library card. Sometimes library consortia buy it and make it available to the entire state system (I'm not sure about Ohio and whether what I access is in a consortia).

I came across this source just browsing at my library about two weeks ago. I suppose it was publicized, but I hadn't seen it or wasn't doing genealogy just then. The quality and depth is breath taking. You can search by people, place and keyword; you can browse titles with bibliographical data and links. I could easily use the indexes and find the correct pages of the on-line books within this database. Printing the right page was a bit tricky, but considering that in the past you might have had to travel hundreds of miles to examine these sources after frustrating hours of tracking them down, what's a few dollars for printing?

Also at my library, and maybe yours, is the Ancestry.com collection. It duplicates some of Heritage Quest, has some really nice browsing features, but the images aren't as good. My library doesn't allow remote access, but here is a link to the one at Columbia University just so you can see what's in it.

These sources are where I found the photocopy (not just record) of my grandfather's WWI 1918 draft card from Lee County, IL; my great grandfather's public land purchases; the Revolutionary War pension petition by the widows of my don't-know-how-many gggg grandfathers in Virginia; the address of the house where my husband's great grandmother lived in Beaver Co. PA before her husband disappeared. Folks, I've seen a lot of on-line material in my professional and personal life with libraries, and these--for the memories--just blew me away.

Because of name changes, our female family members are difficult to track, so have fun looking for your "lost mothers" in an ever growing digital universe of sources.

P.S. There are also many state archives free on the internet for which you don't need any library access.

family history, genealogical websites, public library, digitized documents, U.S. census

View More Monday Memories Participants
My visitors and those I'll visit this week are:Anna, Becki, Chelle, Chelle Y., Cozy Reader, Friday's Child, Gracey, Irish Church Lady, Janene, Janene in Ohio, Jen, Katia, Lady Bug, Lazy Daisy, Ma, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Melli, Michelle, Paul, Susan, Viamarie.