Dear Genea-Santa, I'm broke

Dear Genea-Santa,

I'm broke. I'd appreciate some cash to use for genealogy. If a small influx of cash from you, earmarked for genealogy purposes, were to find its way to me this Christmas, I suppose I'd have to use it for genealogy. Not do responsible things like buying textbooks, work clothes, utilities, or that neti pot I've wanted. ("Dear Sinus Santa" is a different letter altogether)

I mean, there are lots of less mercenary things I could ask you for, but they're all things I could probably find myself if I had the resources. I'm not far enough along in my research yet to have hit brick walls. If I were, this letter wouldn't sound quite so crass. Even while I content myself with what's available online, I know there's so much more out there! Things I need! I even know exactly where to find some of them! Things like

-Matthew Madigan's death certificate (d. 11 September 1892, but not recorded in the ItalianGen.org NYC Death Index; I'm afraid to request and pay for the certificate if it might not be there)
-Honor/Mary Nora Gillen and Martin Gillen's death certificates (indexed on FamilySearch, but £10 is like $15!)

-Nana's (Veronica Mulvaney Mulcahy's) birth certificate. Or a baptismal certificate. Something. We have no idea how old she was!

-A birth certificate for Grandma Gatto. (That's less a money issue. I'm not sure whether I should be looking in Italy, or Brazil!)

There's also the small question of genealogy software, which I don't have. Makes me feel like a rank amateur. Plus it would be helpful for, you know, keeping track of genealogical records.

Of course, you could always get me the software, the records, and the money. Maybe I'd buy myself a nice top or something.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Katie

(Published as part of the Carnival of Genealogy #86)