By now, I have written a dozen of these posts so I think I can now formulate the whys, the hows, and the whats to myself.
I have no intent whatsoever in making my ancestors sound grander or more interesting than I think they were. But I am not historian either. I heard somewhere that someone excessively proud of their ancestors are like potatoes: the best part is underground! I have no interest whatsoever in being a potato!

I write mainly for myself. I feel like an old fashioned wireless that you need to turn the dial carefully to tune in to the past; sometimes I get just static, other times I feel immersed in these stories.  My stories are a last token of appreciation and thanks for the people that came before me. I hope one day my children, my nephew and niece will appreciate them. I was not interested in these old stories for a very long time so I don't think they will be. But the stories will be all written down and waiting for them, with all my love, when they are ready.

I wonder what to include and what to leave out. I like to think that some of these stories have some historical, sociological or cultural interest beyond family and friends but it is not my primary concern. I include my comments on the events and some authorial voice, because, hey, it’s my blog and why not. 

I try to describe the source of my information: be it official documents, letters, a monument, books. Other times my sources are stories that others told me, and I hope to remember to say so and to give some context why I believe them enough to include them. If it’s something I witnessed as a child but I only understood later, I try to make that clear. Sometimes I do a bit of research i.e. some online searches and a look at wikipedia and other sites not much more than this.

It helps that my brother and I are the only descendants for many of the people I mention here, otherwise I would feel obliged to ask for their permission when I write about them. I will see when I get closer to the present, what I will include and what I leave out for privacy. For the photos I include, I hope I mention all that are not from my family archive but I include them occasionally, with credit, when I think they illustrate my stories. Occasionally, I tried to colourise my old photos, for fun.

It’s the past of my family that I write about here. I hope it informs my present to live better and a more meaningful life and that it will do the same in the future for any descendants or readers.