Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Are you curious about your Family History and want to know more, but just don't have the ability or time to do the research yourself? Would you like to discover what interesting things might have happened to your Ancestors?

How much do you know about your ancestors? Were they pioneers, entrepreneurs, immigrants looking for a better life or just for religious freedom? What challenges did they face, what was their day-to-day life like? Do you know what motivated them to come to America?

Do you look like your ancestors? What characteristics or traits have you inherited from your ancestors? And what can they teach you about yourself and about your own life patterns and choices?


These are some of the questions that encourage us to gain more knowledge about our ancestors. Are there additional questions that have motivated you to explore your family history?

If you are curious about who your ancestors are and what places and events shaped their lives, then you have come to the right place. Genealogy research can help you learn about your family's unique history, traditions, origins, and how those things led to your life.

Allow The Genealogy Assistant be your guide on a voyage into the past. The Genealogy Assistant offers a number of genealogical and historical research services that can be tailored to meet your needs to can help you in the search for your ancestors. For us the reward is in the journey, whether we are researching your ancestors or our own.

Wigilia - My Christmas Eve growing up.

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Being all grown up now and understanding more about my Polish heritage, I look back at how Christmas was celebrated in my home when I was young. I realize now that we were celebrating Wigilia on Christmas Eve, although variations had been made from the original Polish celebration.

Christmas Eve Day was just as important as Christmas Day. In the afternoon we would watch Scrooge with Alistar Sim (Still my favorite version) My mom was getting the dinner table set up. It was decorated beautifully with the Advent Wreath as the centerpiece. All four candles in the wreath would be lit along with a candle at each place setting when dinnertime came. Each of us kids had a candle with Santa Claus or Frosty the Snowman and the like. 

The evening began with the family going to evening mass, as we were to young to be able to stay up for midnight mass. After midnight mass my father would stop at a local restaurant to pick up fish for dinner. Phil Rohr the owner would stay at the restaurant until my father would pick up the prepared fish. I am not a fish person, but as long as the fish was breaded well and there was enough tartar sauce, I would eat it. There was also french fries and coleslaw and the like.

After we ate our dinner by candlelight, my father would take out the bible and read about the birth of christ. After that we would line up and have a small procession into the livingroom. My little brother would carry baby Jesus and my sister carried a candle to light the way while we sang "Silent Night". Baby Jesus was then placed in the Manger in our Nativity scene.

After baby Jesus was placed, it was time to light up the tree. My other brother would hit the switch to turn on the lights as we sang "Oh Christmas Tree". To complete our ceremonies, I would touch the angel on the top of the tree to simulate putting the angel on the tree top and we sang "Angels We Have Heard On High".

Once all the ceremony was complete we opened gifts from each other. Opening gifts from each other on Christmas Eve was a tradition that came from my mothers side of the family. Presents from Santa Clause were opened on Christmas Day.

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28 March 2024

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