About Me

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Lake Mathews (Perris), CA, United States
Born in Illinois, I grew up in Wilmette, a northern suburb of Chicago. I have one sibling, an older brother. I am married, for the 2nd time now, to Butch & got 4 children in the deal. They have gone on to make me grandmother 25 times over & great-grandmother to over 20!. After many years working in industry, I got my bachelors and masters degrees in speech communication, & was a professor in that field for 13 years. I retired in 2001 & returned to school & got my doctorate in folklore. Now I meld my two interests - folklore & genealogy - & add my teaching background, resulting in my current profession: speaker/author/entertainer of genealogically-related topics. I play many folk instruments, but my preference is guitar, which I have been playing since 1963. I write the "Aunty Jeff" column for the Informer, newsletter of the Jefferson County NY Gen. Soc. I work in partnership with Gena Philibert-Ortega & Sara Cochran as Genealogy Journeys® where we focus on educating folks about Social History. More about that: genaandjean.blogspot.com. More on our podcasts: genjourneys.podbean.com. More about my own projects: Circlemending.org.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

What's Your Song?

No, I did not mis-type "what's your sign." I asked, "what's your song?"

I met my husband following a square dance (he was learning to be a caller) and soon we were going to square dances every weekend (modern Western square dancing continues to be quite the activity, though our joints no longer allow us to partake). One of the "calls" he learned early on & became our favorite was based on the Country Western Song "Something about You Baby I Like." Without any fanfare, that became "our song." While that first line ("Maybe it's the way you wear your blue jeans so tight") no longer applies as it once did, when we hear that song, we still smile at each other!

Having "a song" is quite common. Often, at weddings, the couple or the DJ will announce the next tune as "their song." Do you have "a song"? Or, more to the point for this blog, did your ancestors? As I mentioned in a previous post, many of our ancestors played musical instruments, but I wonder if they also had "a song." And I wonder how we could figure out what it was! Maybe your ancestors favored "Bringing Nellie Home"; "When You and I were Young, Maggie"; "You are my Sunshine"; "Long, Long Ago"; "Because, Just Because"; or some other song that was popular in "their day." I would love to know what special melody my great-grandparents danced to or what significant song my granduncle sang to my grandaunt. I don't know how we could determine those things, unless it was written in a diary or letter, but if you know the songs that were favored by your family members, be sure to include that in the notes or biographies for those people ... and share that information with me, too. I'd like to know!

Meanwhile: what's your song?

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