Experiment 626. I am a super-fan of Experiment 626, or, as you may know him, Stitch, from the movie Lilo & Stitch. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you it’s true! There is just something so heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time in Stitch’s quest to just “belong” and Lilo takes him into her small family. I cry every single time. Every.single.time. LOL
A characteristic theme from the movie revolves around the meaning of “Ohana,” a Hawaiian word meaning “family” and in the movie, it is followed up by the phrase “family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” This resonates with me greatly for in my own quest to document the lives and experiences of my family, I personally feel it is my way that they are never forgotten.
In all that I do in my genealogy research, it is part of my goal to ensure that the information I gather is around for the long-haul. And, to that end, part of my strategy involves adding details, photos, and documents to the FamilySearch Family Tree. FamilySearch makes a commitment to preserve media that is added to a profile so I try to be diligent in adding what I can, for everyone I can.
Today, I have a perfect example of this! Last week, I reached out to a person via Ancestry with whom I have a cousin in common and shared a photo of my grandmother’s 1944 graduating high school class from Plymouth Colored School in Plymouth, NC. My grandmother, Alice McNair, also had the accompanying graduation program and I saw that one of the surnames of her classmates, was the same as this new contact. I asked him who this person was to him, and it turned out to be his older sister.
He was thrilled to have the class photograph, the digital image of the graduation program, as well as a newspaper clipping I have about the graduation. He also identified his sister in the photo for me. I’ve now added that to the description I have for this photo and I’ve added those details to FamilySearch Family Tree. I’m so happy that we’ve made this connection! Our mutual cousin, who passed away in 2017, would be pleased to know her family is being further documented.
“Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” — Stitch
You are on a roll, Taneya! I absolutely love stories like this–it is at the heart of why so many of us do this genealogy, and why it is far more than just a hobby. I, like you, have a love for old photos and this one is priceless. Thanks for sharing and encouraging us all to use Familysearch Family Tree.
Robyn
Thank you for the kind words Robyn! I was so glad to be able to share these documents with him and I am glad he now has them for his family tree. You are correct in that it is much more than a hobby.