I'm here to give you the real deal.
1. Sometimes the facts are just a bummerI mean, hello, you're researching your ancestors. SPOILER ALERT: They all died. Life was tough. I was heartbroken to learn that one of my great-grandmothers only had three out of her ten children live to adulthood.
Are family trees fascinating? Yes. Sometimes happy and inspiring? Yes. But if you're expecting rainbows and unicorns every day, genealogy is not for you!
2. You will never be "done"
"Let me just whip up my family tree real quick," said no one ever. You think you have a small family? So did I! But guess what? You have no less than 4,096 10th great-grandparents. That's not including aunts, uncles and cousins.
But I guess it's the same with every hobby, right? Musicians always have another song, artists need to create another painting.
Don't worry, you'll always have another ancestor to find!
3. It's addictive
In the 4th grade I signed a very official certificate to "Say NO to drugs." They told me then that they could be addictive from day one.
Thankfully, I honored my pledge. But is it possible that genealogy has the same effect on you? It did for me.
So if you don't want to risk it, just say no to genealogy!
