How I was Bitten by the Genealogy Bug!

I became interested in genealogy in 1978. I was completing the genealogy section of my daughter's baby book. She was two years old at the time. I realized then that I did not know (for sure) who her great-great grandparents were. I decided to find out. Little did I know that by doing this, I would be bitten by a bug named Genealogy. Once bitten - you're infected forever. Back in those days, we had no computer. You used the library, the courthouses and you corresponded with other people. I subscribed to a magazine called, 'The Genealogical Helper'. In it you could post queries and see if others might be searching the same family. You would travel to out of town courthouses and cemeteries. You made lots of pictures and paid to have them developed. Then you sorted the pictures, your data and notes into manilla file folders. I remember keeping my file folders in alphabetical order - in a cardboard box. In 1981, when she was 5 years old and started kindergarten, I returned to college to finish my nursing degree. I put the Genealogy Folders in the closet - but from time to time, I would get them out. Someone would write me with an inquiry and I just had to respond. So off and on during those years - I continued to add to my data and correspond with others but not as much, due to working and raising two kids - (my daughter and her brother who was 5 years older than her). In the year 2000 - genealogy once again came to the front of the line. About that time I bought the Family Tree Maker program for my new computer. I began making family files and adding lots and lots of data. Since then I have updated the Family Tree Maker program three times. I was so afraid I'd have a computer crash that I invested in a computer backup program. It backs up my computer data every Wednesday so now I've stopped worrying that I would loose everything. I bought the 3 volume McDowell County, NC cemetery books - and also have been a member of Ancestry.com for about 7 years now. This lets me do research from home most of the time. So you could say that I am a Family Genealogist. I love helping others research their family. I love sharing my notes with others. I am always eager to learn new things about genealogy and I am always so happy to find new cousins.