Family Trees

My father has been researching our family tree ever since I was a little girl.  I remember taking trips to the libraries and courthouses in the area and trying to amuse ourselves while he scrolled through microfiche looking for old records; Census cards, marriage licenses, birth and death certificates.  He even had a photocopy of a great-great-great grandfather's honorable discharge from the German Army.  I remember books filled with notes, hand-drawn trees, and photocopies of this or that.

Now he has discovered Ancestry.com and I received an invite to review our latest family tree.  He's been able to trace our lineage back to about 1605, on his side.  The one thing I noticed was the lack of information about my mother's side of the family.  Of course, it's not his family so my father has no interest in their history.  Which I completely understand, but I was saddened that half of my information is missing.  So I created a profile for myself and decided to start poking around for information on my mom's family.  Unfortunately, it's difficult to really search the site without a paid account.  But I still found out a lot of information, specifically from one public user, and I would like to know more.

My maternal grandmother claims that we have genuine Native America roots and that we're related to the Brother's Grimm AND Sir Francis Drake, but I take all of that with a grain of salt.  She did, however, present a picture of her Grandfather in a full clown-costume.  I thought that was pretty interesting, but she didn't have a whole lot of background information (like what circus did he work for, etc).  She is my last surviving grandparent and I am feeling that it's important to get as much information from her while I can.  There are things I would love to ask my mommom, paternal grandmother, but I was only 16 when she died and hadn't realized there would be things I'd want to know.  I can get some of that information from my father and aunt, but there are a lot of things they simply don't know.  Like how did my mommom feel exactly when she met my poppop.  Did she have to meet him a couple of times before she realized she was interested in dating him or did she know right away?  I can always get facts, but I can't always get the emotions or story.  With my grandma, maternal grandmother, there are things she can tell me but I have the feeling that only about 70% of it is accurate.  (actually 70% is really giving her the benefit of the doubt)

What I am finding interesting are the birth years of these long forgotten people.  It looks like most of them were in their late twenties/early thirties when my relatives were born.  Of course, I can't see if there are older brothers and sisters.  But it does make me feel like I am keeping with some kind of tradition in being almost 30 and not starting a family.  I have cousins, on both sides, that are having kids at young ages and my mother is definitely feeling the pressure of not being a grandmother.  Of course, this is not my problem.