I had known all my life that my grandfather Craig and his family all hailed from the Cass County/KCMO area. All my grandparents, except my maternal grandmother, died either before I was born or before I had memory of them.
About 15 years ago, before my father passed away, I started researching our ancestry, and was greatly aided by a cousin in St. Jo, who is a retired school teacher and had been researching this stuff for over 30 years. Literally within 30 minute of sending an introductory email to the Craig family mailing list, I had his reply and a GEDCOM file showing that our line of Craigs had been in America since before 1750, and had paused briefly in Londonderry to birth one generation c. 1729 while moving from Scotland to America.
So... my father died shortly afterward, and I just didn't have the heart to pick it back up again. I kept meaning to, but I just couldn't.
Fast forward to 2010. My mother was in the hospital last week, and I went up to help take care of her at home when she was released. We started talking about family stuff, and her lineage has always been a mystery. I took some notes, came home, and started searching online. No luck with the Ross clan, but I've gained a few clues that might help.
Meanwhile, I decided to poke around the Craig line again to see what I could find that was new. I found that George Armstrong Custer is my 5th cousin, 5 times removed (as a Southerner and part Native American, I'm not particularly proud of this).
The funniest thing is that while I was at my mother's, I had just finished reading "Ruled Britannia" by Harry Turtledove, just two days before stumbling across this.
The book is an "alternative history" novel starring William Shakespeare, in an England that has been conquered by Spain, where Phillip II successfully seized Elizabeth I and locked her away in the Tower of London. It's a darn good read for anyone who enjoys history and Shakespeare (there is plenty of understated bawdy, bard-y humor).
Anyhoo, two days after finishing the book, where I got a refresher on Early Modern history, I find out that the background antagonist, Philip II of Spain, is my 12Ggrandfather. To add insult to injury, further back in the Hapsburg line, Edward I of England ("Longshanks") is also a direct grandfather, and he launched war against Scotland, where my Craig ancestors eventually had to flee.
Roughly half of my ancestors were trying to kill the other half. Maybe that's why family reunions are so "entertaining".