Blogs as Heirlooms and Family Fun!

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to setting up another blog. Now I know what you're thinking. You've got to be thinking, "Another Blog for The Blogging Queen? You've got to be kidding? How many blogs do you need?"

Well, this really isn't a blog for me and my small business. It's more of a family heirloom blog. You see, I want to honor my Dad for his WWII service, and give the rest of the family (especially his grandchildren) a glimpse into his life while he was in the armed services. So, of course, I immediately thought the best way to do that was with a blog.

My Dad joined the Navy in April of 1943 and served until December 1946. He was as a Pharmacist's Mate assigned to the Marines. He fought in the Pacific area and was at the battle of Iwo Jima.

I have all of my Dad's papers from WWII, some of his war correspondence, and most of his pictures from boot camp forward. The wonderful thing about his pictures is that he wrote the names of his fellow servicemen on the back of the pictures. He was a "pack-rat" and saved everything. I guess I must take after him in that regard. I, too, save EVERYTHING!

So, I thought that as a tribute to my DAD I would set-up a WWII blog for him. That way his grandchildren and their grandchildren can see who their Grandfather was and what he did for his country.

Also, by including the names of his fellow servicemen and women maybe someone else will be able to see a picture of their father or grandfather in WWII. Plus, with the ability to crop and enlarge the old photo's we'll all finally be able to see what everyone really looked like back then.

In thinking about this new blog I started to think about what a wonderful heirloom a blog could actually be. In fact, it could be quite a genealogical tool as well.

You see I am also a genealogy buff and have saved all of the old family pictures including all the old tin ones that they took during the 1800's. I said I was a "Pack Rat" didn't I? In any event, I have even scanned some of these into the computer. Believe it or not, but they scan beautifully and the detail on the enlargements is astonishing.

I actually scanned a tin civil war image of one of my great, great grandfather's into the computer and then cropped and enlarged it. What was astonishing about it was that I thought I was looking into the eyes of my Mother. They are exactly the same as her great grandfathers. But, we never could see that before because the tin images were too small and too fuzzy. It was amazing.

So, I also thought that when I had time (now that's a laugh!!!) I would love to set-up a family history blog to house all of these wonderful old pictures and to let all of my relatives see what their ancestors looked like. Let them all get to know some of their ancestors. And, what better way to do this then through a blog. That way it is online and always accessible to them no matter where they are located. An heirloom blog.

But, heirloom blogs don't just have to be about ancestors. The nice thing about blogs is that they are so easy to do and so flexible. They can be set-up as family blogs for all your current family members to add their pictures and stories to. Set-up as a way for families to stay connected no matter where they are in the world. A family fun blog that everyone can participate in!

And, just think about how wonderful it would be for future generations to see what their parents or grandparents said or added to the blog back when. What a great way for grandchildren to get to know their grandparents.

Blogs as heirlooms and as family fun! How great is that? Now if I could just find the time.