It is just so important to learn about your family history and it is just a lot of fun and I find it to be very interesting. Sure you can learn from old books and records however if you have a relative that is rather old and is still alive and has a goo recollection of the past it is just so much better learning it first hand. You may be surprised in what you will find in your families past! I use to always talk to my great grandmother about things when she was alive and I wrote things down so that I could someday tell my kids!