Hi Quo,
I can remember that I have always had this strong curiosity about my ancestors. My grandmother was the type of person who did not mind telling you about her family. Grandma was very fair-skinned, and she wasn't afraid to explain why she was so light, while my grandfather was dark. While my sister did not seem to care about family history, my young ears were wide open and her stories always fascinated me.

Also, growing up in a small town in Mississippi where my family were considered "outsiders" in a sense exploded the curiosity that was already there. When both of my parents finished college, they both moved to Canton to teach in the school system. That's where they met, married, and raised their family. They both were living away from the communities they were born and raised in. Mom was from Tate County, MS, in the northern section of the state near Memphis, and Dad was from Leake County, MS. Therefore, I grew up not being surrounded by cousins. A lot of people in my hometown were related to each other, but I did not have one person in that town who I could claim as my cousin. I only saw my relatives when they visited during the holidays, during funerals, or during those annual "Homecoming Days" at both of my parents' hometown churches.

During the summer of 1993, while visiting relatives in Chicago, my first cousin's husband, who had been into genealogy, told me how to get started and the place to go was right in my "backyard". The MS Archives Dept. was just 20 minutes away in Jackson, MS. So, as soon as we got back, I went ("rushed" is a more appropriate word) to the MDAH that following Monday, and that marked the beginning of this "obsession". I was 20 then, and hadn't been able to put in down since. I don't even know if I want to. There's just TOO much to learn!