Have you ever thought about the miracle of your existence?

Not just the likelihood of your parents meeting, but much further. Consider ancient history; a period of three and a half billion years when life first came to this planet. If a single organism in the chain of living things preceding you was ousted before they could reproduce, you would not be here. We’re not going quite that far back with Kathleen Ford. Perhaps only a couple hundred years or so. Nonetheless, Kathleen treats every person in her rich family history like a little miracle.

I sat down with Kathleen in her kitchen, surrounded by sepia photographs and documents. She was happy to tell me a little family goss and show me photos of certain pieces of silver art.

A few years ago, Kathleen was chatting with her sister over coffee about how little they knew regarding their father’s side of the family. Driven by the need to find out more, Kathleen decided to dig into her past to compile a little family tree as a birthday gift to her sister. It started with small things collated from her mother and a quick registration on ancestry.com to get the ball rolling. Visits to the genealogy section of the state library and countless of phone calls to potential relatives led Kathleen to a sea of information. She soon found herself searching through birth certificates, baptismal records, death certificates and marriage licences to connect the dots. The work she was doing quickly became more than a birthday gift. Kathleen’s understanding of her family tree and lineage became somewhat sacred to her.

There may not be a real end to the investigation into her family’s past, but each piece of the puzzle is an accomplishment in itself.

Kathleen says she gets a real buzz in seeing old family portraits and the physical features that have been passed down through the family. She notes that her father had light coloured hair and blue eyes, whereas his brother had black hair and darker features. She laughs as she recalls the first time seeing a photo of her great aunt Agnes who had seemingly given Kathleen’s youngest son the very same thick and bold eyebrows.

“The information is out there and it can just be a turn of a page away,” says Kathleen.

On one side of the family, she found many farmers and on another, there was a line of silversmiths and jewellers. Kathleen discovered that her great-great grandfather, Henry Simkin was a silversmith for Kilpatrick & Co. who had a store right on Collins Street. This company was known for their stunning detailed silver work which made its way into the Royal family’s collection. Henry Simkin was a part of a team who created two silver jugs and a toasting mug in the 1880s as a 25th wedding anniversary gift for the HRH Prince and Princess of Wales. These exquisite pieces led to Kilpatrick & Co. being commissioned to make the Mace of Parliament that is still being used today.

It isn’t always this glamorous however. Kathleen often finds herself wandering cemeteries in search for relatives. Many are the graves of children whose short lives were not well documented. She finds a sense of comfort in locating the resting place of those past and in some way, she feels as though visiting their grave lets them know that they are remembered and thought of.

Perhaps that’s all we need to know as people venturing through our lives; that someday there will be someone out there who appreciates the fact that we did the mere act of living.