Genealogy: Is there a skeleton in your family closet?

Exploring genealogy is one of the world's most popular pastimes.

You have retired, so you have all the time in the world to work on your family tree. Your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be so grateful you made time to obtain your family history.

It is so sad when letters from wars, old family photos, war medals and even old diaries just get lost and forgotten - then all that family history is gone.

Some families are extremely good at preserving family history. I know people who have transcribed the war letters their grandfather’s sent home, as they knew the ink would fade over the years and that information would be lost.

I have had a knitted silk dress that belonged to my mother framed, along with four photos of her wearing it. I knew the moths would make a beeline for it if it was not put under glass and preserved.

Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. A lot of us can go four or five generations back, but going further may take some work, especially if there are no records to help.

That is where such websites as https://www.ancestry.com/ or https://www.myheritage.com/ can help you start the process.

I have seen some beautiful family trees on walls in homes, some cross-stitched and some with the most beautiful calligraphy.

And then there is that box of photographs - no one will have any idea who those people are in the photos unless they’re captioned or named. Why not join a group that does scrapbooking and put an album of photos together? Give it to your daughter or son as a gift. They will really appreciate the time and effort that you have gone to.

So, if you think you are going to have plenty of spare time on your hands now that you have retired, forget it. Once you start on that family tree adventure, you will not be able to stop. Enjoy!