Hey. You know me from Top Comments. Tonight I bring thee the wonders that are "Got A Happy Story?", as Carnacki and Darrell are unavailable. Think of me as the Matt Cassell to their Tom Brady, or the Jim Sorgi to their Peyton Manning. So enjoy, and the story is below the fold
So, my mother loves genealogy. Really loves it. Really, really loves it. If I remember correctly, this probably began in the early 90's, though I can never be sure, as I was of the young persuasion at the time. She spent (and still does spend) a good deal of time digging for past relatives through the wonders of the internet. Starting first on Prodigy, and moving onto AOL and the wonders of the world wide web, she's dug and dug for random relatives and found resources that she needed to create the map of my family's past (which includes James Joyce distantly... so there!).
This love extends beyond the internet though. Books, usually from Ireland, arrive intermittently. She also likes to go check libraries (and mind you, not the fun ones, but rather the genealogical ones) and cemeteries (there are no fun cemeteries), trying to see if she can find relatives. She loves checking those libraries and cemeteries, and would at times bring myself and my siblings along. For me, it was a little boring, though she loved it, so we stuck it out. She took our boredom quite well, though. Usually, when my siblings and I were younger, she would keep us in line in the car by seeing cemeteries on the side fo the road and saying "Hey, we could go look in there for our relatives." Every time, we'd shut up.
Anyways, fast forward to the last few weeks. My mom's currently taken a break from doing her own genealogy, and is checking people's requests online to see if she can help them out. I'm not going to go much further than that because I want to respect the anonymity of all involved, but basically, thanks to some digging and my mom's mad genealogical skillz, she ended up helping somebody find their birth mother. So, this hobby helped bring people together. The thing that bored me for all that time, and that she loved, helped her do some good. I thought that was really cool. :)
So, that's my happy story. I know the ending isn't too specific, but that's not the point of the story. The fact that good people can do great things is what matters. If it proves anything, it's that you should always pursue your hobbies and interests for good and helping others and all that, and that net neutrality rules.
So, what's your happy story on this wet (where I am, anyways) Friday evening?