To the hosts and more of 2018

It isn’t really already…?

How can it be…?

Seriously…?

Can it really be the last workday of 2018 already?

Already.

Looking back, it’s been yet another whirlwind year where I’ve had the chance to meet folks from a wide variety of backgrounds at a wide variety of institutes, conferences and genealogical societies — large and small — and I’ve simply had a ball.

I’ve learned from each and every one of them. I’ve had chances to laugh — and sometimes to share a tear.

I’ve been taught about resources I hadn’t seen before, and been given chances to advance my own research.

I’ve met cousins — some of whom I hadn’t even known I had.

It’s been a wonderful year. So it can’t end without a heartfelt thank you to so many people who’ve made it the year it’s been, including each and every single one of my 2018 hosts:

• North Carolina Genealogical Society, webinars
• Wabash Valley Genealogical Society, webinar
• Pinellas (Fla,) Genealogical Society
• RootsTech
• Orange County (Cal.) Genealogical Society
• Australasian Congress 2018, Sydney, Australia
• Legacy Family Tree webinars, and host Geoff Rasmussen who makes things easy
• Rochester (N.Y.) Genealogical Society
• Nebraska State Genealogical Society
• National Genealogical Society, Grand Rapids
• Connetquot (N.Y.) Public Library
• Centre County (Pa.) Genealogical Society
• McHenry County (Ill.) Genealogical Society
• South Carolina Genealogical Society
• Augusta (Ga.) Genealogical Society
• Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois
• Federation of Genealogical Societies, Fort Wayne
• German Genealogy Group, NY
• Library of Virginia
• New York State Family History Conference
• Plainfield (N.J.) Public Library
• Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
• Genealogy Network of Texas (Plano Public Library), webinar
• Board for Certification of Genealogists Reisinger Lectures
• Johnson County (Kans.) Genealogical Society
• Morris Area (N.J.) Genealogy Society
• Nashi Predky, Ukrainian History & Education Center
• State Officers, NJDAR
• Cape Cod Genealogical Society / Falmouth Genealogical Society
• Central Jersey Genealogical Club
• New England Chapter, Association of Professional Genealogists
• Burlington County (N.J.) Historical Society
• Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Washington, D.C.
• Main Line Genealogy Club, Berwyn, Pa.

A huge thank-you also goes to the institutes where I was privileged to teach in 2018, and to the students I was privileged to teach and to learn from. At the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), in January, I coordinated the “Corpus Juris: Advanced Legal Concepts for Genealogy” course. At the Institute for Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in June, I served as coordinator of the “Advanced Methodology & Evidence Analysis” course at the University of Georgia in Athens. In June and July, I spoke at and coordinated the “Women and Children First! Research Strategies for the Hidden Members of the Family” course at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). And thanks to the other coordinators who let me come play in their classes at these institutes and at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute in Fort Wayne, the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records at the National Archives, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and the New Jersey Family History Institute.

Now if I tried to list all the individuals who went out of their way to make things not just easy but wonderful and fun, I’d still be writing at the end of 2019. But I can’t end without singling out a couple of people in particular who went above and beyond — and then some.

• My friend and colleague Nancy Archdekin for two terrific sightseeing trips in Nebraska, to the zoo and the wildlife safari park.

• My friend and colleague Juliana Szucs for the most-fun-drive-to-Fort-Wayne-ever.

• Just about all the genealogists of South Carolina who made darned sure I got some of my own research done there this summer.

• And a bunch of Down Under folks — Jennie Fairs, Helen Smith, and Michelle Patient among them — who made sure I got another koala cuddle and lots of sightseeing before, during and after the Australasian Congress 2018 in March. And a special thanks to Helen, while visiting the United States, for getting me to do all the things in my own backyard that tourists do… and residents usually don’t.

To all of them, and to all of those who’ve made this year so special, my thanks.

And to you, the readers of this blog… what can I say but thank you? You’ve challenged me, taught me, laughed with me, cried with me.

Another good year here at The Legal Genealogist. With good friends — old and new, and good fun.

Thanks.