It started while looking for a book

I first started researching my family history in April 1984. I was almost 16 and we were visiting my mom's parents in south Arkansas. Being a voracious reader, I had brought a bunch of books with me, but I quickly ran out. I knew Grandma Gilson also read a lot, so I asked if she had any books. She gave me permission to go through boxes in the back bedroom. I found an old composition notebook and opened it -- it was a family history done in the early '70's by my uncle Donnie (I figured out the rough time frame based on me and my siblings being listed, but not several of my younger cousins). I asked Grandma if I could keep it, and she wouldn't part with it. I begged and begged Mom to take me to town for a notebook and pens (Walmart was about 7 miles away) -- she finally did, and I spent the rest of the day copying everything down, clarifying relationships and adding cousins, marriages and deaths.

The next week, I went to a mall and found a blank book -- the kind where you fill in your family history. I spent the evening putting all of the Gilson/Rekward family information in it. The next day, we drove down to the farm to see Dad's parents -- I didn't know ahead of time, but my three surviving great-grandparents were visiting. The three of them helped me fill in much of the data on Dad's tree -- I remember Grandpa Hull telling me he was the youngest of his dad's three marriages and his mom's two marriages. He knew his two brothers and about six half-sisters and -brothers, but knew some children had died or moved away (I later learned he had 15 half-siblings through his dad and 7 through his mom -- he actually knew more than he realized at the time, as I asked more questions). Grandma Hull's mother, my great, great-grandmother Rosie Woods Goodman, had contributed family history for hers and her husband's families to a book published in the 1950's -- so Grandma remembered a lot, too. Grandmother Towe had an incredible memory -- all of her sisters and brother were still living, and she started making phone calls for me when she got back to Kansas City.

I didn't do much more until after graduate school -- I wrote a few letters here and there (which was good, since those folks have past on), but when I finally got a computer and got all my data in there, I was able to start asking more questions. The advent of the Internet has helped tremendously, especially since I can contact so many more people quickly. Today, I have over 63,000 people and 21,000 families in my database -- I research not only my direct lines, but the collateral lines of brothers, sisters and cousins, as well as the families they married into. I have cousins who are related on two and three different branches (would you call that a tree or a bush?) and I have many friends I share cousins with. And it all started while looking for a book.....