Genealogy

Many of us have a fascination with genealogy— tracing through DNA to build a genetic family tree. From my own experience, I know there are often some real surprises! This exercise led me to explore further and reach out to both close and distant family members to share what I found. In many cases, this research led to closer connections to family members, and together, we discovered connections we didn’ t realize we had!

These discoveries also gave me a closer connection to our own family— children and grandchildren— as I shared my own roots with them. I found that there was a genuine interest in where and how our family lived through the generations, and also in travelling to where our family had roots, in some cases two or more centuries ago.

Create a Photographic History

Today’ s generation is a very visual one— if they can see it, they can relate to it! Almost all of us have family photos from our own childhood and archival photos from our parents and grandparent’ s generation( see my family photo above). Assembling photos would be a great project not just for ourselves but to share and discuss to preserve our history, especially for those families with a history in other countries.

I also recently reached out to some of my own high school friends; despite the passage of time, we reconnected immediately and have begun sharing photos and our memories of growing up together.

The bottom line: It is never too late to make connections!

Intergenerational Travel

While we are able, we may consider arranging a trip to explore our newly discovered roots; to visit our own historical locations or to just explore somewhere in the world as a family. At the very least, this travel experience and knowledge could be shared with younger generations to instil a wonder of the passage of time and how understanding your history can help you chart the future.

This process is intensely personal and intensely rewarding.

Final thoughts: Our own stories can transcend our world of artificial intelligence, social media, and chaotic information, providing roots for other generations to connect in a very personal way. It is also a heck of a retirement project to tackle while we can.

Ron Jeffery taught with the Calgary Board of Education for thirty years and worked in educational travel for sixteen years. He and his wife Linda now host Longstay tours for retirees and their most recent trip was to Portugal. Ron continues his passion of photography and volunteering with ARTA and CRTA activities.

SUMMER 2025 | 35