The Lost Art of Letter Writing
I'm so sorry that people rarely hand-write letters anymore, since I treasure those my mother wrote to me when I was in college and newly married. Just seeing her handwriting is wonderful! It's a poor substitute, but I'm printing out and keeping the e-mails that our son and daughter-in-law send to us about our first granddaughter's progress and growth. I save them to a file and print out several at once. Someday I hope Kelsey will enjoy reading them. I am also writing in a "blank book" journal about all sorts of things I remember from my growing up years.

Pat B. LaRock

Sharing Family Photos with Friends
I was recently looking through my grandmother's photo album and found photos of her friends, complete with names. I was able to contact one person (through Ancestry.com) who was a granddaughter of her friend and e-mailed the photo to her. The picture was taken about 1919. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Lauren

Don't Wait to Add Names to Certificates
I would like to comment on the tip Birth Certificate May Not Show Given Name. Upon obtaining my father's birth certificate, he was listed as "baby boy Leonard," born 29 January 1917. I wrote to the Department of Vital Records in Nashville, Tennessee, asking how to add his given name. They replied that I would have to send for their form and have two people older than him who were present at the time of his birth give a certified statement verifying the name used during his lifetime. I was so lucky that he had two older brothers still living who remembered that day and who he was named after. Don't wait too long to have this record corrected. Each state probably has its own law about this.

Carolyn Leonard

If you have a suggestion you would like to share with other researchers, send it to: Juliana@Ancestry.com. Thanks to all of this week's contributors!

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