Family Matters Part 1

To follow is part of a Geneology Project I have been working on for one of my English classes.  If I get enough hits, I'll post more of the story:  

Researching my mother’s family history became an intriguing and unwieldy task, involving numerous phone calls and spending hours pouring over old letters and family documents then chasing down leads via the internet.  Someone on my father’s side of the family had already compiled enough information to fill a three inch binder complete with a copy of the family crest, possible reasons for immigration, and records of ancestry back to Denmark in the early 1600s.  On the other hand, my mother’s family history was like assembling a puzzle with missing pieces without a picture diagram, fitting together tidbits of information from an incomplete family tree and thirty year old hand written letters.  What I discovered astounded and baffled me.  Buried beneath the mountain of yellowing papers was history filled with affluence and revelations of my family giving insight into my mother’s personal psyche.