As a genealogist, I can’t answer that question definitively.  For some of us, the research never ends – it may come to a temporary halt when we are confronted by what appears to be an insurmountable brick wall, while we regroup; or, we may decide that at least for the near future, we have attained the goals for the research we are doing.  Then what?  Well, in my case, a culmination of several years of research for one branch of a family led to a trip to meet the descendants, and celebrate.

Ok, you may be saying, anything for a celebration.

Well, sure.  I’m up for celebrating the small as well as   the large accomplishments.  But, in this case it was a major accomplishment.  You may have heard me speak (or read what I;ve written) about the difficulties of beginning research with two photos of people identified by first names only and no concrete data beyond that.  In this case, as in so many others, networking and crowd sourcing to develop research partners, as well as patience and time led to a happy conclusion to that particular branch of research.  So celebrate we did.

This is one of the records we found that ultimately led to the identification of a family in Nancy, France, and their descendants, and the culmination of that research by visiting them to celebrate in person.