Where did you come from?

The answers are legion.

Your mom's tummy.

Chicago.

The ‘hood.

The restaurant.

No.

I mean where did each of your maternal and paternal ancestors come from?

That means where, from outside of the U.S., did they emigrate?

Why, you ask, is this so important?

If it's not important for you.

Think of your children, and their children, and so on.

Might not they, one day, want to know from whence they came?

Now for the plug.

For a mere $20 or $30, and less than one hour of your time, you can (and very likely will) have the answers to the famous WHERE question above.

You purchase Family Tree Maker for $20 or $30. It comes with at least a one-month subscription to ancestry.com.

Here Is How It Works

You plug the names (and, birth and death dates, to the best of your knowledge) into the Family Tree Maker, click on the lighted up icon, and, voila, there are your records — census records, passenger arrival records, military registration records, and the rest.

From the census records — (1930 is the last available census. They are released every 72 years. The 1940 census is due out in 2012. ) — you can see which ancestors arrived in the U.S. and from which countries they came.

From the arrival records, and from the World War I and World War II registration cards, you often will see the name of the birth town.

In a nutshell, leave something to your descendants and enjoy the “journey.”

It's been a great hobby of mine for over30 years.

Enjoy finding your roots.

No, I don't work for Family Tree Maker or ancestry.com.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com