Something Better than Good

The inaugural edition of the Carnival of Genealogy was published on June 4, 2006 by Jasia at Creative Gene. The topic of the next edition (#84) is “What has the Carnival of Genealogy Meant to You?”

It was early in 2006 that I first “discovered” some genealogists that were blogging. But it wasn't until January 12, 2007 that I finally got the nerve to start my own blog. My second post two days later, with the very creative title of Carnival of Genealogy - food!, was for the 16th Edition, which was on Food & Family Recipes. I felt like I was in over my head, but Jasia was encouraging when she presented the post:

“Let's hear it for good plain food! Becky describes the good plain Midwestern food she remembers from her childhood in Indiana. This is the kind of food many of you will remember from your childhoods too. Fried chicken, homemade pies, and vanilla caramels... yum! Thanks Becky!”

And Thank You, Jasia. For thinking of creating the Carnival of Genealogy, and for your kind words of encouragement to everyone with each new edition. I've said it before, but I'll say it again – the CoG was truly the beginning point of what would become an online community of genealogy bloggers. A community that provided encouragement and praise. For better, or for worse, you can blame (or credit) the existence of kinexxions on Jasia and the Carnival of Genealogy. I wanted to belong to that community, to be a part of something that was good. And I was welcomed with open arms, as others have been since, and it has become something better than good.

In the beginning, the CoG was the means of introducing yourself to other bloggers. If you wanted someone else to read what you had written the best way to get “noticed” was by contributing to the Carnival of Genealogy. It was how we met each other. It was how we got to know each other. With each post published, we shared a little bit of ourselves with everyone else. We laughed together, and cried together. We became friends. Even though I've had the pleasure of meeting only three genea-bloggers in person, I feel like I know so many more of you because of your blogging.

With each new edition of the CoG, I looked forward to the next. What would the topic be? Would I be able to come of up with something worthy of contributing? Not always. It was a challenge and, in my mind, some submissions were more successful than others. But like many thngs, the more we participate, the better we become.

It has been my honor to host two editions of the Carnival of Genealogy. The first time was July 3, 2007 with the 27th edition, whose topic was What America / Independence Day has meant to my family – hosting that CoG gave me a greater appreciation for the time and effort that Jasia puts into each edition of the Carnival. My second hosting gig came along this year, on February 4th, with Come Dance With Me and it was a huge success, thanks to the 50 contributors who shared their Happy Dance Moments with us!

A recent contribution that I really enjoyed writing was The Best Gift – Ever! for the 69th Edition "What if: Rewriting History" which was hosted by Bill West at West in New England.

Earlier favorites, in 2007 editions 20 and 26 were tributes to Women and Dads in which I presented the stories of my mother's parents in Grandma's Story and Grandpa Vic.

According to my records, including this post, I have participated in 56 editions of the CoG (22 in 2007, 22 in 2008, and 12 thus far in 2009). See Kinexxions :: Carnival of Genealogy Contributions for a complete list of CoG posts. Although, for various reasons, I haven't participated as much as I would have liked this year, the Carnival of Genealogy still holds a place near and dear to my heart and I hope to contribute more often in the future.