Saturday Night Fun - What Inspired Me?

For this Saturday Night Fun challenge, Randy is asking, "What event or person inspired you to start your genealogy research?" So, what inspired me?

Well, I did touch upon this subject before in a previous article, but I don't mind mentioning it again. As I mentioned before, I believe my interest in history and the fact that my grandfather was doing research into the family were the two factors in inspiring me to do genealogy. Of course, when I think I about when I began to do genealogy, I usually say that I began my research in my late teens, but after thinking about for a while, I wonder if I actually started it earlier.

When I was in the sixth grade, I had to do a family tree project for a project, so I began asking my grandparents for the names of my ancestors for the projects. I created a poster (which I still have) of the information that was known at the time, and when it was time to present my family tree, I had my grandpa bring in the family tree that had been done on my grandmother's side in addition to my posted. Then, when I entered the seventh grade, I had to do another family tree project as well, and I had to ask questions again. Of course, I also had to collect information on my family's medical history as that was a part of the project at that time.

Add those factors to the influence of my grandfather and my love of history, I guess it isn't a surprise as to why I do genealogy. Of course, when I think about those two early factors, I wonder if I actually started to research my family history earlier than I thought before because if I hadn't had to ask questions at those times, I don't know if I would have been able to uncover information on my great-grandfather without some of the information I learned at that time. So, what do you think?