I Am Hooked

I missed it last week, but this week I finally remembered to Tivo Who Do You Think You Are? I had read the reviews that said the show was tedious and boring, but I thought it was truly fascinating.  I've always wished I had the time and patience for genealogy, and this show made me wish that much more.

In this particular episode, Emmitt Smith traced his ancestry back to his slave-owner great-something grandfather and then went to Africa and learned about the current practice of trafficking children, so I think it was probably a particularly moving episode (I cried!), but I think I would have been just as interested if it had been less dramatic.  I really don't think there's such a thing as an ordinary family history.

I know precious little about my ancestors, except that they were from small towns in Germany, Italy, and the Ukraine, and they all came to the United States relatively recently, which means that any genealogical research I would do would have to be done in Europe, so it would be fairly difficult without help.  My great-grandfather came over from Italy around the turn of the century by himself at the age of 14.  That's something I can't even fathom--he must have been terrified to leave his family behind and go off on his own to a country where he didn't speak the language.  And he was just a kid.  Wow.  He is exactly why I think any family history has the potential to be a really good story.

Looking forward to Lisa Kudrow's story next week.  It looks like it has a Holocaust angle, so I'm sure I'll be crying again.