As a result, I couldn’t fix this:

Husband and I recently took a genealogical road trip to Illinois.

First Stop – Judy Russell. The Legal Genealogist spoke at the Chicago Genealogical Society meeting in Arlington Heights. That was a day well spent.

Next up – locate the final resting place of two of my Tolf ancestors. You’d think I’d have planned ahead for this part of the trip, but it turned into a kinda last minute “Will we have time? I dunno. Let’s bring the info along just in case.” situation.

Despite that, miraculously, we found headstones in three different cemeteries for EIGHT leaves on my family tree. Yippee!!

Thankfully each of those headstones were in pretty good shape. Because as I mentioned earlier, I forgot to bring the cemetery kit.

Here’s what the cemetery kit contains:

• Plastic pail (for removing dirt)
• Tall step ladder (for better area photos)
• Knife (for removing dirt and grass)
• Garden gloves and disposable latex gloves
• Insect repellant
• Cemetery maps
• Masking tape
• Old towels
• Small pair trimmers/scissors (to trim grass)
• Aluminum foil (large size) and pencils with erasers
• Whisk broom
• Cell phone
• Kneeling pad
• Drinking water
• Large water can
• Cemetery shoes

Tools for Recording Information
• Camera Equipment
o Digital camera
o Rechargeable batteries
o Battery recharger
• Laptop computer
o Power pack
• Flip Pal Scanner
o SD Memory Cards
• Writing Materials
o Spiral notebook
o Pencils and sharpener
o Clip board

Cleaning Materials
• 2-liter bottles of water
• Spray bottle
• Cellulose sponges
• Soft make-up brush

Every time we visit a cemetery, Husband and I photograph headstones for Find A Grave. When we stumble upon headstones that are sinking into the ground, we do a little landscaping work to make them visible again.  The headstone pictured above is at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Oswego Illinois. It’s been on my mind since I saw it , so I’d like to tend to it as soon as possible.

Thankfully there’s another road trip on the horizon. And the cemetery kit is already packed.