SNGF: Turning Point

I’m having some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (#SNGF), with help from Randy Seaver and his prompts! Feel free to join in.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: August 29, 2026

Prompt: “Every historical person has major events, milestones and “turning points” in their life, from birth through death and even beyond.  These events, milestones and turning points can be the basis for family stories of the historical person. Please share one of those events in your own life, or the life of one of your ancestors.”

Who Will Tell Your Story?

One day, my two sons asked me why I “keep telling these genealogy stories when we’re not interested.”

I replied, “Well, one day you will be interested, and I may be gone by then.”

Without naming names, I’ll say it was the smartass who came back with “Well then we’ll have the fun of the hunt like you do!”

When It All Came Together

To no surprise to my readers, I did not find this comforting. True, my genealogy research is a legacy that gets more solid every year. But I also know that genealogy may never mean as much to my descendants as it means to me. So, I sought another way to create a legacy and thus came my turning point.

Not long after my father’s death, I learned that he had gone to college on a full scholarship. I guess I never thought about where this hand-to-mouth family got money for a university. Someone I will never know invested in my dad and his future. He was able to help me with college prep, and two of his three daughters have master’s degrees. That one gift 65 years ago is reverberating throughout the generations. That realization gave me an idea.

My employer has a very generous charitable donation match, and I eventually worked up the courage to start working with my father’s alma mater to set up an endowment. It will take me a few years to hit the minimum, but I hope to get there next year, in 2027. At that point we can start distributing small scholarships to people. I already know that I would like to keep donating to the endowment as long as I’m able.

To Make a Difference

Like my father, education helped me to get ahead in life and give my children a chance that I never had. This endowment is my way to pay this forward long after I’m gone. This realization became the “turning point” in how I think about purpose and legacy. While my children may or may not have the fun of hunting for ancestors, the scholarship is a legacy they won’t have to go looking for. It will already be out there making a difference.

Dad and me

AI Disclosure

This post was created by me with the help of AI tools. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own.