Family history research can be emotional

 I'm working on a profile in WikiTree now that has really touched me. I had adopted the abandoned profile a few months ago because the surname is Platner and I have Platners in my family tree. The information already in the profile had originally been uploaded from a GEDCOM file so had mostly unsourced information. 

 As I researched him at Ancestry, I noticed that there might be a photo of him so I looked and there I saw, clearly, a man used up by life: a thin, gaunt face with sunken cheeks and an obvious goiter. We don't use photos without permission or links to them or that we own. I thought I can't use this photo; he makes me feel sad. 

Looking around, I saw a link to a possible story about him so I clicked on the link. Someone who had worked for him as a kid had written a short paragraph about a boy who had been kicked out, by his father, at age 14, abandoned, who grew into a man who was a farmer and local inventor, who had 2 farms and 120 dairy cows, married and had at least 6 children. 

So, the photo showed the face of a man who'd had a hard life but who built a good life for himself and his family. I am moved by the photo and the story. I've contacted the person who posted both to Ancestry for permission to use both in my profile of Glenn Platner of Iowa. Time will tell if his Platner family and mine are connected.

I started researching family history out of curiosity; to find out more about some family legends.

But, over these decades, I've come to think of it as a way to honor my ancestors and acquaint other family members with them and their lives.