I was wondering about stories of how people have laughed or cried in reaction to stories of their ancestors.

I Freakin KNOW I am not alone!

Mine is from a Guardian Angel Grandmother I never knew who passed away in 1942.

My curiosity is about the abstract emotion that I am sure that I am not alone in.

Just looking for other perspectives to perhaps help me understand my laughter and tears.

Hello Beachfarmer. I can recognise that - your emotional response would tend to signal that there's something genuine about it. Keep talking to her - she's probably looking over you and giving you a guiding hand now and then!

I had an instance of an ancestor from around the 1850s - he was a famous healer and herbalist in Pontypridd, Wales (where part of my family comes from). When young, I 'saw' him in a vivid dream and it stirred me deeply. It took a few years to find out who he was. I feel he's been with me ever since - just occasionally I get that feeling. But at age 73, that's now been quite a few times. I've had some dangers in my life (as a humanitarian worker in war zones) and on occasions he has popped up - and kept me calm. And possibly alive too - there have been a few near-misses where instinctively I moved, and a minute later a bullet flew past, missing me. Sounds a bit woo-woo, but I invite sceptics to go to a war zone and try it.