Perhaps the best line of the entire Who Do You Think You
Are? series was spoken by Angie Harmon as she stood on her family's farm,
looking out at the same land her ancestors had owned.
"I just feel so whole" nicely sums up the entire
ancestral journey. Year after year, as I take people to Scotland to
research their family history, I hear participants tell me, "as soon as I
stepped on Scottish soil, I felt like I was home. I knew I belonged." There is no greater, more humbling experience
than traveling to the land of your ancestors. The feelings of belonging and
connection are powerful and make a compelling argument for the idea
of memory being passed down through our DNA.
As any family history researcher will tell you, there is
great excitement when you find your ancestor in a document. Tangible verification
of their existence. And there is a sense of wonder when you see their
signature. It is almost as if you could
reach out and touch them. Multiply that by infinity when you walk the streets
they walked, see the houses they lived in, the factories they worked in, the
churches they worshiped in. These moments provide a deep sense of affinity for
your ancestors. A deep appreciation of their battles and struggles. A sense of
pride as they overcame in order to carry on.
All of this culminates in an irreducible sense of belonging
as you come to understand not only their story but also your own history. How
you came to be.
If you are ready to experience your own feelings of being
whole, connected, belonging to your Scottish ancestors, join us on our next
Genealogy Tour in May 2016. Very limited research spaces remain, so book before you
miss out on this life-changing experience.
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