We are so excited to be partnering with Ancestry on our final challenge of 2019! How in the world has an entire year passed of doing these challenges? We have learned so much and truly loved it.
For our final challenge during the month of December, we want to do something meaningful. Immediately, we thought of Ancestry. They are changing lives and connecting the world to their past and present.
We learned firsthand how eye-opening it can be to take an Ancestry DNA test. Although we are identical twins, we got completely different DNA test results! You can read that blog post here.
How to Make it Meaningful
So, for the month of December, it was clear our challenge should be MAKE IT MEANINGFUL.
For us, this means making family interactions more valuable this year by trying something new. Instead of talking about the weather, we are going to ask real, thought-provoking questions.
We are realizing what a wealth of knowledge our family members are and how little we have dug into the past.
According to a new Ancestry® survey, nearly three in four Americans (70%), even more so millennials (80%), wish conversations with their family during the holidays were more meaningful.
So, everything from conversation starters to family tree connections are going to be covered this month in the challenge.
People Crave Connection
We realized in creating this challenge that we are really missing out on connecting to our ancestors and it turns out many Americans feel the same way.
In a recent Ancestry study, 37% of Americans “strongly agree” they wish more members of their family knew about their family
history.
This is likely because there is a knowledge gap – more than one in ten (14%) Americans know nothing about their family tree. More than half (59%) of Americans don’t know the year their grandparents were born.
Do you know when your grandparents were born? I’m embarrassed to say I have no clue! It’s a wake-up call for me to ask my one remaining grandmother all of these questions while she is still alive and I have the chance.
Simple Conversation Starters
The good news is, all it takes is a simple conversation to change this!
To start things off, I have 10 simple ideas for conversation starters you can use at your upcoming family gatherings to make them more meaningful.
- What is your most treasured family recipe?
- Is there a legendary love story in your family?
- Tell me about a family tradition that goes back generations?
- What family story have you heard once too often?
- Is there a family heirloom you treasure?
- What is your ideal place for a family reunion?
- In a movie about your life, who would play you and your family members?
- If you could invite any famous person to join your family for dinner who would you choose?
- Do you have an infamous family member?
- What three adjectives would your family use to describe you?
We Hope You Join Us
This is a challenge that is close to our hearts and we hope you will join us in connecting to your past. Each of our stories is so unique, it’s a tragedy when we don’t take the time to find out where we came from and who came before us.
