Close as Family

One topic in genealogy today is the FAN network.  For those who haven't run into this, FAN stands for Friends, Associates, and Neighbors.  It is a way to use the investigation of close friends, co-workers and other associates, and neighbors to possibly find clues to one's own ancestors' activities.  Sometimes it is worth the time, and sometimes it's not.

I have not done a great deal of this sort of research myself, but I have ideas as to who might bear looking at.  One of my father's Naval Academy classmates is one possibility.  Though he and his wife have since passed on, I remember my mother talking about this fellow and his wife as having been very close friends with her and my father.  I think it was the summer after my freshman year in college that my mom and I drove up to Norfolk, Virginia, to visit them.  I'm not sure what looking into this man would possibly reveal about my father, but there could be a clue there somewhere.

When we moved from California to Florida after my father died, my mother developed a close friendship with a couple who lived nearby.  Later, they moved out to the northern end of another county.  It was a drive, but we went out there often.  Again, I'm not sure what research into this couple might reveal about my mother, but there may be clues there, too.  

This couple who were such good friends with my mother served as adjunct aunt and uncle to me.  They joked with me.  They called me "Monster," which led me to call them "Mr. Monster" and "Mrs. Monster."  Their daughters, several years older than I was, served as additional big sisters.  

A group of women with whom I attended Florida State University has been held together by a semi-annual newsletter.  One of our number has, for more than fifty years, gathered news from us and published this newsletter.  In it, we have recounted our joys and sorrows, told tales of our families, mention the books we've read, and kept up with each other.  That newsletter has a good deal of information about me in it, that my daughters and grandson might possibly find interesting.

A FAN network may bridge generations.  Some of our daughters' friends have become close as family not only to them, but to me and my husband, as well.  And the parents of these friends of our daughters have also entered our FAN network.  The four of us have also latched onto two sisters who live locally, with none of their family anywhere near them.  Their parents have passed on, and their sister lives in Massachusetts.  These sisters spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with us, as well as always being invited to share in other family celebrations.

If nothing else, ferreting out your parents' or grandparents' FAN networks may provide a good look at the social world in which your ancestors lived.  Understanding background is a big help to understanding your ancestors.