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  • “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. Dr. Suess

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

TITLES

I indexed an Old English record [1500's] this week for the Right Honorable Most Gracious Lord [SomebodyorOther].

His name was something else, other than that title. 

Indexing, for those that may not know, is an opportunity to help make all the vital records in the world searchable - to digitize and 'index' any and all available records so that anyone that wants or needs to can find their ancestors. Anyone can help do it. It costs no money - yes it is free, and you can 'test drive' it here and once you try it or sign up there is no minimum commitment or amount of time or quantity that is required - how much or if or when you do any records is up to you.

 And let me add/warn - it is way more fun than any video game and you get points for doing it too. It can become an obsession - it is addictive ...

On Monday this week almost 1 million records were ready to be made available to the public - 946,521 to be exact - almost 2 million were indexed the same day - that is a lot of names on a lot of records!

There - that's a blatant plug for indexing - now back to blogging!

Anyway - as I typed in the name I noticed that none of the lengthy title that may have made this man or his family important in the place they lived was needed to make his descendants able to locate him in an index.  I began to ponder and notice the designations that I was required to attach to his name and to the names of his family -

Father, 
husband, 
son,
wife, 
mother, 
daughter,
child -
born/baptized
buried
married (widow/er or divorced)
single (bachelor, spinster).

Very basic terms and states of being.

A friend sent me an e-mail asking that I fill in several lists of 3 things about myself to share with her.  I noticed she could fill in 3 actual names she has been called.  I began to try to think if I had ever had a nickname or been called anything except my given name.  After some thought I realized that the only names I have are my given name, mom and grandma (or some baby-lisping variant thereof).

I can not think of any more desirable name or title.

Father, mother.
Husband, wife.
Son, daughter.

Each of us have at least some of these titles.  

They are precious and everlasting titles.