The Greater Power, The More Dangerous The Abuse

Throughout history, people have gone crazy over power, making them do things that they would have never done. Stories have been written, wars have been fought, and even families destroyed over the struggle for power. Desiring power is part of our human nature, everyone wants it, and what one does while in power, is often attempts to gain more. Even the most paramount leaders can become corrupt, leaving their legacy resonating through history. A common theme throughout our history is the abuse of power. It is often that societies find that their highly elected officials have broken laws to a large degree. With superfluous power, there is an abuse of power. Human nature is to covet power, and when someone feels power, it makes them go ballistic over it, eventually, leading to that power becoming corrupt.

What is a family? How are families shaped and what effect do they have on society? In the United States a family consists of both parents, one’s self, siblings (biological or adoptive) and extended family members; however, this is not the case around the world. The concept of family and who is family changes in each culture, but is mostly centered around who is kin and who a person marries. Family, kin, and marriage are established through how society decides their lineage, which establishes cultural rituals within the society.

This semester, you will have the opportunity to construct a family genogram for informational purposes. You will develop a genogram, documenting information from both sides of your family (maternal and paternal) for 4 generations starting with yourself. The genogram may be hand drawn or you may use a computer drawn one. (You can download a basic program from www.genopro.com/free or from http://www.progenygenetics.com/students/ ) Your

As I embarked on this assignment I was unsure how to begin and what stories to tell. I did not know if I should commence with how my family came to America, my family tree, or a fascinating story about how my grandparents met. In order to complete this assignment I convened with my grandfather, Earl W. Stafford Sr., who knows a lot about our family history, to learn as much as I could.

Origins of a family have meaning and history. By keeping track of family relations also known as a family tree it can allow us to keep records of the past. The Edwards family tree shows great record from the early 1700 's to the mid 1800 's. This family tree demonstrates when a person was baptized; when they got married; and when they passed away. The Edwards family chart show the different relations of marriages and fertility rate from today 's society. From the chart we can determine that the Edwards family show a different demography compared to todays society. This is because life expectancy was shorter; families were larger; and finally marriages were happening at a young age.

There is an old African saying, “When an elder dies, it is as if an entire library has burned to the ground.” This happens to be the case when it comes to my family history. Unfortunately, my grandparents' on both sides of my family have passed away and the rest live across the world which can be difficult to contact. My parent’s are going to be my sources for this assignment. They both have provided me with information about their childhood and the lives of my grandparent’s. By using the stories provided from Deborah A. Miranda’s book Bad Indians, I will compare and contrast the lives of my family to hers.

There is an old African saying, “when an elder dies, it is as if an entire library has burned to the ground.” This happens to be the case when it comes to my family history. Unfortunately, my grandparents on both sides of my family have past away and the rest live across the world which can be difficult to contact. My parent’s are going to be my sources for this assignment. They both have provided me with information about their childhood and the lives of my grandparent’s. By using the stories provided from Deborah A. Miranda’s book Bad Indians, I will compare and contrast the lives of my family to hers.

For this assignment, I interviewed my grandmother. She was born in October of 1933, and she has lived in McMinnville, Tennessee for many decades. She is one of the few people I know who is old enough to remember it. Because of that, I chose to interview her over anyone else.

First, lets start with my family. There are a lot of things to know. For example, I am the oldest child in my family, as far as my mom, my dad, and my sister. On my mom’s side of my family, I have 3 younger cousins, 2 older cousins, 4 uncles, 1 aunt, my grandparents, and my nana. There are a lot more down in my family tree, but for this essay there are too many, some that have passed away, some that I have never meet, and some that I can’t remember. Lets begin with my cousins. My 3 younger cousins, in order by oldest to youngest, are Clayton, Madelyn, and Rowen. My 2 older cousins are Hannah, and Matthew. There is a story that goes along with

Since I have always had such a fascination with genealogy, I thought it an honorable undertaking to research our ancestry. I wish someone had done it fifty years ago so that I might have access to more information on our direct line of ancestors, other than the word of mouth passed down through the generations that I’ve had to rely on and what little I have found digging through dusty courthouse records.”

Mapping out relationships and interactions between a family system can present a visual aspect to assist with understanding the function as a unit. Creating a genogram gives the clients realizations of why family traditions exist and traits that family members pass from generation to generation.

Catherine and I filled out the Medical Health History of the Family and created a family genogram.

This is part four of the series "Where Do I Start as a Beginning Genealogist?". Glad to see you! If you haven't read parts

Learning about your family tree can be fun and exciting. I can also raise more questions when you come across a surprising discovery, which is exactly what happened to one woman while she researched her family's history.

The first theme I noticed after completing my genogram was the trend in education. None of my grandparents had the opportunity to pursue education further than a standard high school degree. Still, they greatly value education and have contributed to the postsecondary educational pursuits of their children and grandchildren. My brother Tommy and I have completed the same level degree as our mother, and my brother Wesley has completed the same level degree as our father. The second theme I noticed involved a connection between familial relationship and career choice. I have always been very close with my grandmother, Lola, and I am working towards a career in the same field as she worked. The same rule holds true for my father and my brother