My paternal great aunt gave me a copy of her parents wedding picture in about 1989 and I was fascinated. My Dad was the spitting image of his grandfather (sans the handlebar mustache). I was fascinated but it took me few years to begin my quest. I took a basic genealogy course and then another which was specific to French Canadian genealogy in about 1998. I began in earnest after my mother's death in January, 2000.

My roots on both my paternal and maternal sides, all four grandparents and eight great-grandparents go back to New France (Canada) in the 1600's. It's very interesting because of the excellent record keeping by the Catholic Church regarding Baptisms, Marriages & Burials. It is also very involved because of the small population of New France at the time. I have several multiple times great-grandparents who had several children who were great grandparents in multiple familial lines. This makes it confusing when trying to put my Pedigree Chart together. (One set of, for instance, 7X GGP's who have multiple children who are GGP's in four different lines ... how to connect them!!)

I wish I had begun earlier when my grandparents and their siblings were still alive.