Tina Lurie
A few years ago, I was talking with a friend about my interest in genealogy and finding out more about my family. I was able to find some information about my grandparents, aunts and uncles from the U.S. census records, but I was having difficulty going further back in time as I did not know how or where to look for records or information. My friend said she knew someone who might be a resource for me and could possibly offer some suggestions. She referred me to Tanya Neider. I sent an email to Tanya expressing my interest in learning about my family. She responded quickly and said she’d be happy to talk with me, and she gave me her phone number. Within her email, she also stated “Family history is exciting! I look forward to hearing from you and “meeting” your family.” I was so impressed at how she phrased that.
Over the course of more emails and phone conversations, Tanya found (on her own and without my asking) the ship manifest for my maternal grandmother and my aunts. I didn’t believe at first that it was my family, as the first names were all different. Without even realizing it at the time, Tanya was teaching me a great lesson in European research- that immigrants often changed their names when they came America.
Over the course of more emails, Tanya suggested we meet at the Family History Center in Kensington so that I could ask questions and she could show me the FHC resources. I was reticent at first as Tanya was offering to come in on her own, on a day and time different from her normal volunteer shift. She assured me she didn’t mind and so I accepted her kind offer.
Upon my arrival at the FHC (my first time), I was enthralled, and I was eager to learn as much as I could. I came prepared with a list of questions. Tanya showed me the various resources at the FHC and then we sat at a computer, where I got an individual tutorial on how to use some of the software and search engines. I felt like a sponge, trying to learn and absorb as much as I could. Tanya was as patient as can be, given my myriad of questions. She seemed as excited as I was, and her love of genealogy and family was on full display. I fed off that energy as I waited for the results of each search we were doing and her passion for her work literally became infectious.
As we approached the four-hour mark at the FHC, I was growing weary. I started to have what I refer to as a genealogy headache. It’s that ache that’s self-induced by having so much fun learning and researching that you literally cause yourself to have tired eyes and an achy head, yet it’s so hard to stop. As we were getting ready to finish up (Tanya was still going strong), it was suggested that I go to a website known as Fulton History, as my family members lived in New York State. Tanya showed me how to do some searches, and we found some newspaper articles on my maternal grandfather. While it was thrilling to see these articles, I was exhausted and I told Tanya it was time to leave and I would continue searching at home. After a few hours of rest at home, I got back on the Fulton History site and did more searches. Fatigue was setting in again, but I saw that I only had a few more searches to go through, so I decided to continue.
The very last entry for the search I was doing on my grandfather turned out to be the biggest genealogy find I’ve ever had, including to this day. I found a newspaper article written in 1913 about my grandfather and his four brothers, where they lived and how two of them had changed their last names. It was an absolute gold mine of information, as I didn’t know my grandfather had brothers, and best of all, there was a picture of my grandfather with the brothers!
After finding this article, I was so excited. I sent an email to Tanya to share my joy as I was exuding pride over finding this article. Tanya told me she found the article as well, but didn’t tell me as she was hoping I would continue to search and find it on my own. She wanted me to achieve a sense of accomplishment that comes with learning how to do something and finding information based on that knowledge.
It’s been a few years now since I’ve known Tanya. She is always ready and willing to help with my questions. When I first got to know her, I offered to pay her for her services and I asked her if she would do research for me. She politely declined, as she knew I would get more satisfaction and knowledge from learning to do it myself. She recommended I get involved with an Eastern European Group at the Kensington FHC, as they focus a lot on Jewish genealogy. I did, and I’ve attended monthly meetings ever since. I also joined a Jewish genealogy society based in Baltimore so that I could continue learning from others.
Now that I’m more comfortable doing research, I’m continuing to learn new things that involve not only sources of information and records, but best practices as well. I recently had a conversation with Tanya about the proper way to prepare a research log and source lists. As an amateur genealogist, not only do I want to learn about my family, but I want to organize my records and attribution in a proper fashion.
I consider myself very fortunate that I was introduced to Tanya and that she shared her love of genealogy with me. After speaking with her, I was hooked. What started out as a hobby has turned into a passion. The passion has become life altering, as I’ve found and connected with relatives I didn’t know existed and I’ve learned about family members long deceased. I feel as though I have brought these ancestors back to life, never to be forgotten.
Tanya’s mentoring and coaching has given me a purpose in life that I never had before. I have such pride over being able to build a family tree when none existed, to re-create a family that others didn’t know about, to know what someone did for a living or where they lived or when or where they were born and died. These are the gifts that were shared with me by Tanya.
These are the gifts that I now share with others.
