MEETING : SATURDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2016

Gail Richards of the Durban and Coastal Branch reports:
We had a fabulous meeting this afternoon, braving a fierce thunderstorm and torrential rain and a tiny bit of hail. What a pleasure it was to see so many new faces (10 visitors), and we wish them well with their new journey.
Eleanor Lea gave an outline of how genealogy research works and where it starts with the gathering of information relatives, and how to deal with stumbling blocks. We all agreed that we should have spent more time, and had more interest, when family stories were laughed and cried over. Click on the image to enlarge.

Our visitors raised what inroads they had made in to their Family Tree investigations – some at the very beginning (and dreadfully complex by all accounts), to those who had a fair measure of success with a few stumbling blocks along the way. If I can speak for my fellow members, it makes our hearts very happy when we see people interested in finding out about their heritage.

Here is an extract from a discourse from David Steindl-Rast:
“ Look at the faces of people whom you meet.
Each one has an incredible story behind their face,
A story that you could never fully fathom.
Not only their own story, but the story of their ancestors,
We all go back so far.
And in this present moment, on this day,
All the people you meet, all that life from generations
And from so many places all over the world,
Flows together and meets you hereLike a life-giving water, if you only open your heart and drink.”

{Steindl-Rast was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. He received his MA degree from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Vienna (1952).}