Oral Family History Can Be Lost in 3 Generations

On December 18, 2013 the examiner.com published the article "Oral Family History Can Be Lost in Three Generations".

It is an interesting read.  Not anything we don't already know, but it does make you think about your own family stories.  

Personal note -  I have discrepancies in my own family:  a great-uncle who supposedly died from being hit by a train, although I can find no record; a great-aunt that came to the U.S., married an older man who was cruel to her, she left him to return to Greece and supposedly died on the boat trip home.  On a much simpler level - if I didn't have documentation, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to tell you the dates that my grandparents passed away.  

As mentioned in the article - "It is important for genealogists to remember that family stories are just that, stories.  They are not facts unless there is a strong oral history or a document to back them up."