Editor's note: Rooted in history I absolutely love the PBS show, “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” Gates, a Harvard professor, historian and filmmaker, hosts celebrities and helps them trace their genealogies back many generations.
It doesn’t matter to me who the celebrities are, I find the ancestral stories fascinating. Sometimes they discover histories that evoke pride. Often, they discover family members with unsavory pasts. No matter what is unearthed, the guests are always grateful to uncover their roots.
I’m lucky that I have my version of Gates in my family — my Aunt Gladys. She and her daughter, Kathy, have spent countless hours researching the roots of our lineage. And even though she’s my dad’s sister, she dug into my mom’s family too. Last year, my sister took a lot of the information that was uncovered and made books for us. I treasure every scrap of detail about those who came before me.