Challenge: My CemeTree - What is it and when (hint hint - It was in June!)

In June, a genimate, Alona, who is part of GeneTribe, told me Cemetery Day was held every 18 June. Another genimate, GeniAus, blogged about the day, which is how I found out about it.

What is it?
A blogger by the name of Lonestar HQ came up with the day as there wasn't already one she could find, so in June 2017, she made June 19th every year known as Cemetery Day. 

Her goal was to get people to think of cemeteries as a way of research and to help others. Some suggestions were:

• Visit a cemetery
• Visit a cemetery and photograph it for others & share the photos on  BillionGraves or FindAGrave
• Share a picture or pictures on social media, including on blogs, about how you've helped to raise awareness of this day
• Any other way you can bring awareness of this day

As June was just over a month ago, and I was busy looking for employment and researching, I forgot all about the day, as I do. Absent minded professor should have been included in my name - that's for sure!

However, all is not lost! I can do a late blog post about it and probably bring more awareness up now rather than in June when everyone was out and about. I'm trying to think along the lines of advertisements which spell or do something out of the box in order to draw people's attention to it. I wonder if it'll work. *grin*

My way to bring awareness of Cemetery Day:

My way to bring awareness is to share below the places my family now rest. I cannot do this for many, due to by the time I've found part of the family in Europe, the sites are gone due to the time limits set out by the government to then take the signage down and resell the site. This I know has happened in Germany and Belgium as far as I know. One has been confirmed by cousins I have found, but the other I know because of discussing this topic from time to time with others in Germany. 

So, in memory, here are pictures of some of my family's resting spots. 

Paternal

My uncle John's site in Cedar Hill Cemetery & Mausoleum

My grandmother's headstone in Cedar Hill Cemetery & Mausoleum 

Grandpa Charlie (adopted as partner with my grandmother) headstone in Cedar Hill Cemetery & Mausoleum 

My Great Grandparents Adam & Maryanne Wojtkowski graves in Linden, NJ

My Great Grandparents Adam & Maryanne Wojtkowski graves in Linden, NJ

My 2 x Great Aunt and Uncle headstone upclose

My 2 x Great Aunt and Uncle headstone plot

I haven't been able to track down any other grave site pictures - yet.
Maternal

My mother's side is huge. Most of the Gauquie side are buried in one place - St Mary's in Washingtonville.

My grandfather and great aunt in Calvary Cemetery in New Windsor, NY

My Great Grandparents at St Mary's in Washingtonville, NY

My great aunt Mary who had polio and who is buried at St. Mary's in Washingtonville, NY. 

My Great Grandparents Valerie and Stanley on my maternal side buried in Charleroi, Pennsylvania

Like I said, there's many people I can put here, but these are the main people and the cemeteries I have pictures from. Also, I have people all around the USA. 

Take a Pic & Share a Pic!
A couple of years ago, we went to a cemetery with my husband's aunt. She was taking pictures of headstones for one of the sites of  BillionGraves or FindAGrave (I can't remember which one). She asked us if we wanted to go help for the day. At this point we had our nephew, William, which we had to be careful of because he would dart off as any normal 3 year old would do.

 

Our nephew, William, helping us with photographing graves to share

We did go, and William had fun helping us use water to make the headstones cleaner to take pictures. Then we came back and shared them online. It was fun, but the pictures side was a lot of work though.

When life calm's down again, we'll have to try it again.

Why Of My Flesh and Blood for my Genealogy Blog?

Johnny Cash's "Flesh and Blood" song from his album I Walk the Line was an influence of part of the title and the Of My is because this is MY family's history and  no one's else.

The words are: 

"Flesh And Blood"

Beside a Singin' Mountain Stream
Where the Willow grew

Where the Silver Leaf of Maple
Sparkled in the Mornin' Dew
I braided Twigs of Willows
Made a String of Buckeye Beads;
But Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

I leaned against a Bark of Birch
And I breathed the Honey Dew
I saw a North-bound Flock of Geese
Against a Sky of Baby Blue
Beside the Lily Pads
I carved a Whistle from a Reed;
Mother Nature's quite a Lady
But you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

A Cardinal sang just for me
And I thanked him for the Song
Then the Sun went slowly down the West
And I had to move along
These were some of the things

On which my Mind and Spirit feed;
But Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

[SPOKEN]

So when this Day was ended
I was still not satisfied
For I knew ev'rything I touched
Would wither and would die
And Love is all that will remain
And grow from all these Seed;

[SUNG]

Mother Nature's quite a Lady
But you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need. 

From Azlyrics

Seriously, when I started writing so much about my family's genealogy, it was overwhelming on the one site blog I was using and that blog's purpose was not to only exist for that purpose, so I decided to start this blog and its only purpose was to discuss my family's genealogy and some interesting and yet frustrating subjects I have come or will come across and this gives me a place to vent. 

Besides, I'm still looking for ongoing family, so I figured if someone who is family stumbles across this blog, they have a way to contact me. Then later, as the term of no issue came up for myself and my husband, it was a way to have the information out there for the future generations even after myself and my husband are gone. Why? Because the way it stands now, we have a no issue or we cannot have children, so our genes and memories of us will be gone after we are. This way, the information I've found can live on and any future generations can find the information I've tried to so hard to find.  
 

A picture quilt is a great way to remember ancestors

Before the no issue issue, one of the groups I'm involved with dared us to share what we've uncovered about our families. I sat down and thought of ways I could share information and this was one way to share information of generations past. This dare also lead me to create a few groups on Facebook (Gauquie/ Larson, Wojtkowski/Slepowron/Gardner, Ostrzycki, just to name a few) so information can be shared this way as well. Besides, what's the use of doing all of this work when it just sits there and no one learns from it?

An online timeline of your ancestors

Finally, on top of the above reasons (as if it weren't enough), I have started to put together my grandmother's documents and images of her life along with other information which might have affected her and her family, but its very slow going. First, I'm not confident enough with my writing to attempt something to big and, as one of my past managers have told me over and over, I'm a perfectionist. To do something that is not perfect would annoy me and frustrate me. Guess what? I hate to admit this but she is and was right. I'm still struggling and will continue with it, but its taking me a really long time to do this. 

Overall, the reason why I have this blog - its because things that are written here are because these people are OF MY FLESH AND BLOOD. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't exist and I have to pay homage to this fact.