New Traditions

Genealogy, and genealogy blogs, tend to focus on the past. But, tonight, I'd like to share a bit of the present. For the last couple of years, I've been making calendars to help my stepson Fritz, who has Down's Syndrome, better understand how long he has to wait for important events, such as his birthday or Christmas. Fritzie loves his calendars and loves marking off the days, which he does with the help of a family member, usually his dad.

Here's this year's advent calendar:

What else are we doing this year? We're baking biscotti. Or, to be more accurate, my husband is baking biscotti with Fritzie's help, although I hope to be able to help with tomorrow's batch. He's made at least four different batches so far, in a variety of flavors, and we're all chiming in with suggestions for new flavor combinations. Tonight's batch is orange-almond. I managed to snag a taste from the small stack of imperfect cookies that won't be going back into the oven for their second baking, so I can attest to the fact that they're very yummy.

Generous Genealogists

Over on Google+, I've circled a number of genealogists, and through them, I'm finding more genealogists around the world. This blog post by Judy Webster is just so wonderful that I wanted to share it with you:

Genealogy Leftovers: Genealogists for Families: keeping the memory alive...: "For as long as I can remember, my father set aside a small sum of money that he would periodically lend to a hard-working person in need of short-term help. We called it his 'Do Good Money'. Dad passed away last year at the age of ninety, and I want to honour his memory by continuing his tradition. I have just found an easy way to do so."

Her post goes on to describe the non-profit organisation Kiva, and invites her readers to join her Kiva lending team, Genealogists for Families.
I hope that you will read her lovely post and consider joining her team. It would be lovely if this team could grow to include genealogists from around the world and to become a family tradition for all of our families.