AnceStories Presents the iGene Awards

"The Best of the Best" is the theme of the 42nd Carnival of Genealogy, in which we are encouraged to submit our favorite posts of 2007 for the iGene Awards. The envelopes please...

Best Picture: "Eight Generations of Mothers" - this post actually featured several photos of consecutive generations of mothers. I enjoyed sharing them with my readers and seeing the family resemblances over the generations. Miniature copies of these photos now appear on a bracelet which I wear daily as a reminder of my heritage, and has garnered me many compliments.

Best Screen Play: "The Mystery of the Marriage of James L. YORK and Mary "Mae" E. McARTHUR" - there's a novel hidden in the factual details of the lives of my ancestors, one of an unhappy woman who, while trapped in a marriage with a possibly abusive husband, falls in love with the farmer down the road. While dreams come true in the eventual union of the lovers, the woman pays a terrible price. Her ex-husband obtains custody of their sons, and from a distance she helplessly watches them grow into dysfunctional and aimless young men, in and out of prisons and marriages, leaving a wake of fatherless children behind them; grandchildren she never really gets to know.

Dale Midkiff, known for acting the part of the hot-headed antagonist and a distant relation of my husband, would play James York, while Ashley Judd would portray the proper, yet beautiful and quietly passionate Mae McArthur. Russell Crowe would play the love of her life, Dick Randell, and the roles of James and Mae's adult sons would go to Luke and Owen Wilson.

Best Documentary: "A Polar Bear in North Russia" - researching for this as-yet-incomplete series about my great-grandfather's experiences in North Russia at the end of World War I has educated me greatly on the politics behind World War I, especially in Europe, as well as the social history of those times. Look for completion of this project in the future.

Best Biography: "One Woman: Barbara Dorothy Valk, Missionary to Central Africa" - like many of my fellow carnies, my best biography nomination has to go to one I wrote about a woman--my grandaunt--for the 20th Carnival of Genealogy, which celebrated Woman's History Month and International Women's Day. The greatest reward I experienced in writing Aunt Barb's story was understanding her not as my grandfather's sister, but as a woman of strength, passion, and dedication who made a difference in the world.

Best Comedy: "Bob and the Cow" tops my list of funniest posts, while the one on Alice Teddy, the rollerskating bear, is a close second!