Memory Lane Monday: Water

morguefile photo

I’m using the ’52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History’ series authored by Amy Coffin as an aid in starting my personal history throughout the year.  See the entire challenge on my Examiner.com article. I want to leave my OWN story in my own words so my posterity will be able to know me a little better. Perhaps you’d like to do the same.

Here is the beginning of my memories about WATER:

I grew up in Long Beach, CA near the Pacific Ocean.  As a teen, Cherry Beach was five minutes away from home and a favorite place to go to get tan, or try to get tan.  A group of my friends would drive down in our Chevrolet Caprice Classic or my best friends’ families light blue Volkswagon “Bug”.

The Long Beach pier was beautiful to view at night due to the lights lining it.  The oil rigs in the distance were pleasantly disguised and lit with colored lights, as well. 

When I was young, The Pike (an amusement park) was a festive place to spend time.  It was located right by the ocean.  My dad would take me there—sometimes with a friend.  The ferris wheel and merry-go-round were main attractions.  I also remember the mirrors that would distort my image when I would stand in front of them.  It was at the Pike that I developed my love for cotton candy.  I loved feeding the seals, although I couldn’t stand their smell. 

In 1967, the Queen Mary became quite an attraction in the port of Long Beach, and was a welcomed addition to the shoreline.  Ports ‘O Call and Seaport Village with their shops and restaurants were also interesting places to spend time. . . and money. 

It was a pleasure to live a few minutes away from the ocean, feel the sea breeze, and call Long Beach my home.
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As founder of Family Tree Quest, people sometimes ask what tools I recommend for organizing and recording personal and family history.  Here are my highest recommendations.

Heritage Collector Suite-  Your complete Family History Management System  (my highest recommendation)
This has everything you need to get your family history clutter into one, orderly place.  Store and retrieve photos, documents, videos, etc.  Create a PDF for a bound book.  Many bonus items such as storybook and GPS modules.

Personal Historian Software- I love it’s timelines and personal history prompts. 

Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner –  Portable, easy flip-and-scan-technology.  You can even scan pictures in the frame or while they remain in their photo albums!  I sit on the sofa in comfort and scan to my hearts delight.
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As the Phoenix Genealogy Examiner, I create an article about this series each Monday.  Click subscribe (at the top) if you’d like to get my articles automatically delivered to your email inbox, or click the RSS icon to read my posts via a feed reader.  These weekly challenges are authored by Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog and hosted on the GeneaBloggers website.

Please leave a comment and let me know YOU stopped by for a visit to my blog.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” I have not received any compensation from Amy Coffin or GeneaBloggers.com for writing this post. I am listed on the GeneaBloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. As founder of Family Tree Quest [dot] com, I am an affiliate of LifeStory Productions, Inc. Flip-pal and Amazon [dot] com.