Getting To Know Me, Getting to Know All About OMcHodoy

Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County has posted a challenge to the geneabloggers. There are lots of challenges put to this group! He wants readers to get to know each other and each other's blogs as well. So this post will tell you a little bit about me, a little bit about OMcHodoy, and a little bit about my blogging history.

Let's start with me, Colleen McHugh. I started doing genealogy about 4 years ago after taking the old family photo albums from my niece for a little bit to reorganize and scan the photos. I was amazed at all the great photographs in that collection. Oddly enough, the ones I fell in love with the most were the oldest ones that are black and white or sepia. The true treasures are the ones that are scratched and dusty; there's something about them that makes the passage of time real yet romantic, if you will. In real life, I work as a social worker at a Children's Clinic, where we treat children with various medical needs, from the more mild hearing impairments to the more severe Muscular Dystrophy, and lots of diagnoses in between. I've been there about 15 months. I usually love my job ;).

As for OMcHodoy, that name came about while trying to combine the surnames of my grandparents. The name is explained at my Oracle of OMcHodoy blog, found HERE. When a friend of mine suggested I create a blog, I didn't see the point. But I couldn't let the bandwagon pass by without me on it, so I did. And I'm glad I did. My goal was to chronicle my research, good or bad, mistakes and all. Overall I think it has accomplished that, but moreso, it has helped me connect with relatives I either lost contact with or never "knew" before. I find this aspect of blogging to be fascinating and what makes it most worthwhile.

Terry has asked us to include our "Best of the Best" posts. Since this blog is relatively new, some of my favorite posts will be from my Oracle blog and some will be from here. So let's see if I can come up with my three best posts.

The brightest of my posts, I think,are those that show the processes of genealogical research. First there's the introduction of information: a document, a photograph, a story. From that information comes analysis of the information; particularly if there is an unknown factor in the information. Who is in the picture? If unknown, what does the picture tell us in terms of era/time frame, clothing, activity? Is there documentation to back up the story of the couple's marriage? Through the analysis come possibilities: The clothing worn shows perhaps it was the 1920's, could this be grandma Hodick? Once you have some possibilities, the research process begins. Let's search for "Sans Souci" to see if that tells us something about the photograph labeled "In Detroit". Sometimes the research gives you answers; sometimes it only gives you more questions. So the posts below, all from my Oracle blog, show the cycle of processes that come from a genealogical find.

**The first post, dated 7 Dec 2005, was entitled "HOWEVER".
** Next, posted on 5 Jan 2006, we have The Disappearing DOYLEs.
** Posted on 7 Jan 2006 there is The William and Nellie Effect.
** The follow up to The Disappearing Doyles was posted 10 Jan 2006, The Appearing DOYLEs.

There are many more of these types of posts, but if I listed them all I'd be writing this post for a week!

For the funniest, "breeziest" of my posts, I'd have to choose Blog Takeover, posted at Orations on 26 Jul 2008. This post was "done" by my dog, Izzie. If you wish to know how obsessive I am about my dog, I have 892 photos of him and he has his own blog. When I finally go on vacation next summer, I'm going to go crazy with worry about him!

Finally, the "most beautiful" of my posts. This one was easy. I choose "A Tribute To Women", posted on 9 Mar 2008. The subject of this post is my dad's sister, Marianne McHugh (1930-1978). Of all the ancestors and relatives I have studied, she is the one whom I wish I had known better. Everything I hear about Marianne is uplifting and upbeat. I suspect she had a lot to teach the world. And hopefully within the next year, she will teach the world a lot, 30 years after her death. Stay tuned for an exciting announcement that will give Marianne a chance to be part of America's history!

What do I expect readers to take from reading my blogs? I hope they will learn from my thought processes; even the ones that didn't pan out. I hope they will learn that connections to cousins in modern times have meant more to me than learning someone's identity, or the date they were married. Most of all, I hope they enjoy the experience as much as I enjoy reading about their experiences!