Let me introduce myself....

My name is Roberta Cooke Schmidt. A little over a year ago, I set out to
make some web pages to display my genealogy research. I started
from scratch, taught myself as I went along, made lots of mistakes,
but had alot of fun. Little did I know, that I would get addicted
to making web pages. What started out as 4 simple web pages,
has quickly turned into a site of over 20 pages,
and it is still growing!

Once upon a time...

I was born in Northern California, 32 years ago. My parents live nearby,
as well as my two sisters and their families, and my grandmother too.
I have been married to my best friend, Troy, for almost 13 years.
I am a volunteer in a worldwide Bible education project. Studying the
Bible, attending Christian meetings, and helping others learn
about our Creator, is a very important part of my life.

I have had many hobbies over the years, one of them being black
and white photography, I love to take pictures of old things, castles, barns
cemeteries, etc... I also love to travel, especially to Europe. I started my
genealogy hobby about a year and a half ago. There was no way of knowing
how interesting and addicting this hobby would become to me.

I cannot say what it was that made me start this genealogy search.
I have always loved looking at old family photographs, it didn't even matter
whose family it was. I have always enjoyed walking through old
forgotten cemeteries. Some may think that strange, yet I have always
found it to be peaceful, especially reflecting on the lives that once were,
lives I never knew, families long forgotten. I suppose making trips to Scotland,
Ireland and England, could have gotten me thinking about my own family,
and where we actually came from. I know where my mother's side of
the family is from, and half of me is Greek blood...
but what of the other half?

This genealogy search has opened up a whole new world for me,
a world of the past, that has been well preserved. Finding information
about my ancestors, has been a very emotional experience for me,
full of little thrills, like finding a long sought after marriage bond,
or names on census records...to the sadness of finding a death
certificate or obituary of a long-gone great grandfather. Yet, along with
the sadness of never knowing these family members, comes the joy of
finding new cousins that I never knew existed, or rekindling relationships of
far away relatives. I would never have thought, that what started out as
just a curiosity to find our heritage, would turn out to be such an
interesting, satisfying and fulfulling hobby. Who knew, that sitting in
front of a microfilm reader, would be so mesmerizing? Or looking
through old, dusty courthouse records, would give me such a thrill?
Some of my friends and family don't understand my passion
for genealogy, and maybe I don't understand it completely either.
But one thing is for sure, the past if no longer a mystery to me,
my present is full of enjoyment and surprise, and my future....
well, that is something yet to be.

Thanks for browsing through my web pages.
I hope you enjoyed your visit. Please feel free to email me
tps914@aol.com
or take a minute and sign my guestbook

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