When I was a girl, my mother told me about the Daughters of the American Revolution and how members could trace their heritage back to an ancestor who had fought in the Revolutionary War. I was just a girl and I don’t remember how it came up, but my mother made it sound really special. Unfortunately, I am an unlikely prospect. My pedigree on my mother’s side is a patchwork, sprinkled liberally with divorces. My father is adopted.

Still, on a recent trip to Washington DC, I decided to check out the DAR headquarters. I’ve visited Washington enough that I’ve seen the major attractions and I wanted to try something different. This seemed like a good choice.

It was a cold November day and there were only two of us on the tour. Our tour guide was wonderful. She was a black woman who had traced her heritage back to two free great, great, great, great, great grandfathers who had fought in the Revolutionary War. She was really proud to be a member. I was a little jealous as I explained to her how unlikely it is that I would be eligible for membership.

However, last month on a visit with my brother, he introduced me to ancestry.com. I was amazed at what is out there. Frankly, it is addictive! We spent hours working together with my mother. We even called my grandmother to get information to include in our family tree. By the time we called it quits for the night, we had traced our lineage back several generations.

Best of all, we found relatives in the Virginia area. There’s a lot of work to do but, just maybe, I could be a Daughter of the American Revolution after all. The requirements for documentation are stringent, but if I can find the basic information, the DAR has an amazing library of references available. I’m going to give it a try!

For more information about the Daughters of the American Revolution visit www.dar.org.