Just got back from serious genealogical research

[no_hypocrisy]

I went to the public libraries of Dubois, PA and Altoona, PA. Wealth of information via the cities' directories, some going back to 1893. I was able to map the addresses of residences and businesses of my grandparents, their siblings, and cousins from the 1900's. Dubois even had the high school yearbooks of my aunts and uncles.

With these addresses and the GPS in my phone, I was able to trace where my grandparents lived 1916 to 1933. I found an apartment building where my grandfather had his business. Walked up and down the sidewalks of the business section and imagined that my family looked at the same buildings, etc.

In Altoona, not only were both sets of great-grandparents and great aunts buried in the same cemetery, but in the same area. I found my great-grandmother who was born when Abraham Lincoln was 27. It was Jewish cemetery with Hebrew that I couldn't read, but the names were in English. The headstones were maybe one inch apart. And to make it more challenging, it was 88 degrees and the entire section was a very steep hill. (Think 45 degrees upward. One wrong move and I could have tumbled badly.) These were headstones that I only viewed on http://www.findagrave.com. It's one thing to see your ancestors online and it's another to physically stand in front of a headstone.

I also realize this was my only likely visit to the cemetery as I'm in my late sixties.

I'm sharing this with my siblings and various family members.

This was a necessary part of discovering my "roots".