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THE GENCLASS NEWSLETTER - June 2008
http://www.genclass.com
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TOPICS:
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GenClass partners with WorldVitalRecords - FamilyLink
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Tip of the Month: June Weddings
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“Finding A Lost Loved One”
by Linda Rakita
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Upcoming classes: June and July
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Welcome
to the latest issue of the GenClass newsletter.
If
this is your first time reading this newsletter, welcome!
Our
monthly newsletter includes a featured article by
an expert GenClass instructor, a tip of the month,
and a list of upcoming courses.
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Dear GenClass user,
I
wanted to let you know of our recent partnership with
FamilyLink.com, Inc. Among other benefits, this partnership allows
us
to sell discounted membership to WorldVitalRecords.com to you
and
our other students and registered users.
You
can sign up for membership on World Vital Records for 2 years
of the U.S. Collection for only $39.95 (regular price is 1 year
for
$49.95) or one year of the World Membership for only $89
(regular price is $149.95). As you can tell this is a large savings!
WorldVitalRecords.com
now has over 1 billion names online that will
be very useful for your family history research. They have over
7,500
searchable databases and continue to add new databases each day.
WorldVitalRecords.com was recently recognized as one of the
10 most popular genealogy web sites. They have also received
many awards for their ease of use and fast searching.
For
more information go to this web page:
www.worldvitalrecords.com/genclass
If
you have been considering subscribing to a web site to research
your family history, this would be a great way to get started
for a
very low price. This is a special offer just for our GenClass
users,
so please don't email it to others or blog about it.
Thank
you,
Micha Reisel, Administrator GenClass
micha@genclass.com
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“Finding A Lost Loved One”
by Linda Rakita
"Jenny and Kenny sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. I am either
going to regret this decision for the rest of my life or be happier
than I've been in decades."
Those intriguing sentences were sent to me in response to the
welcome letter I email to all students upon hearing of their enrollment
in the Friends and Family Investigative Course.
Gosh, I thought....I certainly hope it's the latter!!
Jenny and I wrote back and forth for weeks before her class began.
She allowed me into her life and as with each of my students
who grant me this privilege, I became committed to helping her
find her lost loved one.
Jenny and Kenny sounded like they enjoyed the typical high school
romance, if there is any such thing as 'typical' where first loves
are concerned. They were inseparable and committed to one
another in the late 1960s. While their peers were enjoying the
freedom of experimenting with different partners in that era,
Jenny and Kenny had eyes for no one but each other.
Against their parents' wishes, they planned to run away and
marry immediately after high school graduation. However Jenny
was afraid of disappointing her parents and backed out of eloping.
That fall, they attended different colleges in neighboring states
but secretly met as often as possible.
Pregnant. Gulp. Now what? Jenny told me Kenny was thrilled
by the news and felt their parents would finally sanction a marriage.
Jenny was terrified.
However life did not evolve as the young couple had planned.
Jenny's parents sent her to a maternity home. Kenny was
allowed no contact with her. After the birth and adoption of
their son, she buried her heartache and went on to graduate
with a master's degree in social work. Marriage to a fine man
followed, as did their children's births. Life was good for Jenny.
The dream ended when Jenny's husband died fifteen years ago.
With their children grown, she devoted herself to a career of
helping
young pregnant women. She enjoyed several hobbies but
genealogy soon became her favorite.
Jenny enrolled in several GenClass courses last winter. She was
drawn to and intrigued by the Investigative Course, but leery
of
actually enrolling. She finally took the plunge, telling herself
she
did not want contact with Kenny but would be content being
the proverbial fly on the wall. Once she found out if he was alive,
where he was living, who he married, if he had children,
she could let his memory go.
Once class began, her opinion changed. She decided that if she
found his contact information, she would write to him. Her husband’s
untimely death proved to her that life is short. What’s the
worst that
could happen? That Kenny would not remember her? That he
would be rude to her? She had survived far worst – the
relinquishment of her firstborn and her husband’s death
proved her resiliency.
The moral of the story: Take a chance and try to find those long
lost people in YOUR life. What’s the worst that can happen?
What’s the best?
For
you see, Jenny did find her Kenny. Kenny had never
forgotten her. He had been married and divorced twice
because as he told Jenny, “I just couldn't bond with any
woman.
You were always in my mind and heart.”
And
yes, since Jenny’s Friends and Family Investigative Class,
she enrolled in the Adoption Course. She and Kenny worked
on the lessons together and found their son. He will be the best
man
at their wedding which will take place in June, forty years after
their first elopement was planned.
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TIP OF THE MONTH ----------------------+
Tip
of the Month:
Traditionally, June is heralded as the month for weddings.
If you can’t find a marriage license recording the date of
your
ancestor’s marriage, check to see if there were banns posted
at the church. In the days when marriage licenses were very
expensive, it was also legal in some places to be married
after announcing the intentionto wed three weeks in succession
prior to the marriage. This practice is called “Posting the
banns,”
and it allowed time for anyone opposed to the wedding to speak
out.
From this posting, you may at least glean an approximate date
for
the marriage if no other record can be located.
+---------------- UPCOMING CLASSES -------------------+
Register
for a class at http://www.genclass.com
or at http://classes.genclass.com
JUNE 2008: Classes start June 1, 2008
...................................................................
* Adoption Investigative Class
Detailed search advice and assistance for successfully locating
and reuniting adoptees and birth families.
*
Eastern European Genealogy Research: Part 2 (Intermediate)
This class will continue on from the basic Eastern European
research class, focusing on how to expand your research beyond
your own family into a more community-oriented protocol.
*
Lost Friends and Family Investigative Class
Detailed search advice and assistance on the methods
to use for successfully tracing "lost" relatives and
friends.
*
Organizing Your Family History
Learn the techniques to ensure efficient organisation of your
research.
*
Salt Lake City: Part 2 - the Largest Genealogical Library in the
World!
Access the largest genealogical library in the world.
Continuing on from Part 1, this course takes you into the sections
that most people never use - and what a mistake that is!
*
Write Your Family History Step-by-Step
How to write your own family history, - a detailed and step-by-step
guide.
JULY 2008: Classes start July 1, 2008
...................................................................
* Adoption Investigative Class
Detailed search advice and assistance for successfully locating
and reuniting adoptees and birth families.
*
Canadian Research - Internet Resources - Part 1:
This course does more than get you started. It takes you deep
into
some of the country's best records - many on the Internet
*
Jumpstart Your Genealogy!
Just where do you start if you are interested in your family tree?
- detailed instructions
*
Lost Friends and Family Investigative Class
Detailed search advice and assistance on the methods
to use for successfully tracing "lost" relatives and
friends.
*
Native American Genealogy
Learn how to start your research for your Native American Ancestors.
*
Salt Lake City: Part 1
Access the largest genealogical library in the world. Perform
searches,
knowledgeably; and understand what you've found.
*
Scottish Genealogy
This extensive class will provide a detailed description of what
you
need to know to track your Scottish ancestry.
Register
for a class at http://www.genclass.com
or at http://classes.genclass.com
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That's
all for now, until next month!
-- LISA ALZO, Newsletter Editor
============[ GenClass Information ]==============
The
GenClass Newsletter is brought to you by
GenClass Online Genealogy Classes www.genclass.com
To
unsubscribe, or for any other question or suggestion,
contact Micha Reisel, GenClass Administrator
at micha@genclass.com
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