was several years old. I put the book away to go about my weekend 'must dos', but I could not refocus my mind away from the book....And so I took the risk. I picked up the phone, punched in the phone number and a voice was immediately on the other side. At first sounding uncertain as to my inquiry, the woman on the other end began to understand the nature of my call. And with increasing excitement, she confirmed that our ancestors were one in the same.Many phone calls have been made since our initial contact and genealogical records have been exchanged. But I feel I have learned much more than she: Receiving amazing documents, providing answers to blank spaces on my family tree. A large envelope of new records of my Michigan ancestors is now filed away. None found within the Internet but discovered as a result of an almost extinct genealogical technique: human interaction. The sharing of personal histories, family bible records, notes passed through the generations that are not held within cyberspace but filed away inside office drawers and attic boxes.So what can you, the family historian, take from my ramblings of the day? When you come across a surname list or a book of personal history, consider ordering the publication. Keep in mind, there is most likely someone in the 'real' world, holding the information you have been searching for :'Real records within 'real' books from 'real' people.For a general surname list to connect with other researchers, go to Rootsweb.Keep searching for answers,Cheryl