Who is Lula Nettles?

Well, it's Lula Octavia Nettles to be more precise, and aside from her being my great grand aunt and the name and face behind this blog, I'm not really sure!


I know that some of our family heirlooms have come from her (I think our hand painted fine china that my mom has).  There is a picture of her with the rest of the family with my great grandmother as an infant.

I know she was born in Texas in 1875 and lived to be 90.  I had never met her.  I had heard stories of her from my grand mother and she reminded me so much of what I remember of my great grandmother.

Researchers still don't know when she got married... we do know she had 2 boys, both of whom also passed before I was was born.  Sometimes it is not exactly advantageous to be the young researcher!  For some unknown reason she has caught my interest! There will definitely be more to come on her - consider this her rather brief introduction.

Are you ready to know who you are?

I have gotten a lot of questions from people once they find out that there is a 24 (almost 25!) year old obsessed with genealogy.  Let's face it, most of us who caught the genie bug are much older than 24.  The main question I get is "What got you into this?".  Such a simple answer comes with quite an interesting story- thus the rest of my family tree! I simply wanted to know where I came from.

I grew up not knowing many people from my dad's side of the family.  There was a reason for that and as I dug deeper and deeper I began to find out why.   Many many dark secrets start to come out of the woodwork... I remember a stranger telling me to be careful- what I find will not please many people.  A lot of skeletons get excavated amidst the rubble that is our relative's pasts.  The damage was done years ago and the ripples felt even through to today.  If not careful, it could cause more damage.

I feel that anyone who dives into genealogy must be prepared for anything- good and bad.  To know who you are is to know where you came from.  Parts of my family are a mess- quite literally.  Generations of fighting relatives, torn apart for various reason- neither one really worth it.  It is still that way, it hasn't changed much. 

I feel I understand members of my family better.  I also have a better relationship with my dad because of the work we are doing together on this project.  I also have a new, stronger sense of pride when I say " I know where I came from, and I will never forget it!".