Climbing My Family Tree

I’ve always wondered what I will find in my Family Tree. I’m fascinated by the people, the names, the locations, the stories, and the faces of the members of The Tree.

As I start to climb, I’m noticing that even though my name is Grover, I am a Smith, A Coffman, A Monticue, A Knutsen, a Fear, a Fickas, a Moody, and over a hundred more names. As of right now, the Family tree has 1010 people on it. Some I probably will remove, and there are many more to add. I only happen to be named Grover because of a long line of men that carried the name and wound up on me. If a grandmother, had somehow been a grandfather, my last name could be Bacon.

Whenever I have seen someone with the name Grover, I always wondered who they were and what they are about, and are we related. Arguably, the most famous Grover, from Sesame Street, is probably not my relative, but he has always been my favorite. That’s why I hate Elmo so much. Elmo steals screen time from Grover. I wish Grover would have his agent talk to the Henson people.

The other big revelation in the Grover name came when I met my soon to be wife for the first time. She told me that she grew up near, and lived in for a short time, the town of Grover City. Which is now, Grover Beach. It is a small town on the coast of California next to Pismo Beach. Well, when I was finally able to set foot in Grover Beach, I was very excited. Taking pictures with the City Signs…Seeing the Grover Beach Amtrak Station…I Loved it. But once again, I ran into Grover not getting top billing because everyone was more into Pismo Beach. Shirts, hats, hoodies, shot glasses, googly eye poop..All with Pismo Beach on it! Not a dang thing with Grover Beach on it. I ended up going to the Grover Beach Police and Fire Station and they sold me official patches. I was so happy. I came back home, got a sweatshirt and hat to put them on, and gave them to my Grandparents. I think they liked them and I was thrilled to give those to them. When my Grandfather passed, I was able to keep the hat I gave him, and I cherish it to this day. My wife REALLY loves it when someone asks her where she grew up. If I’m around, I will give her the eye and she’ll sigh and say “Grover City”

What I plan on doing with this blog is sharing the fascinating and amazing things that I find during my Family Tree search with the ones who are also fascinated by it. I’ll share the link with my Family and they can follow, or not follow, and I will put in updates as I find them. This will also preserve these stories for the future. You can also share with anyone you think might be interested.

Another thing I’d like to do is look up anything that the reader might want to see or learn about. Maybe a rumor about someone that you have heard in the family or someone you think we are related to. I have a few stories already about famous relations. I find that part of it pretty fascinating too.

Big thanks to my Mom for also being interested in learning about family history and paying for the Ancestory.com membership.

Let me know what you think. Remember, it’s a work in progress, so I haven’t added all the pictures and people. If you have a picture you’d like me to use, send it. Please leave a Comment and Click to Follow.

Randy