Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Patricia LaPointe “Grandma, it’s time to light the tree.” “Hang on there, Charlie. We’re missing two things.” “Oh, we forgot the angel!  But I don’t think there’s anything else.” “Hmm, I think there’s something we need that’s pretty important … Continue reading →

By Suzy Beal I write, it’s what I do. But recently, I went AWOL. Absent without leave. I closed the door to my writing studio and walked away. My schedule hasn’t changed for the past eleven years. I shut myself … Continue reading →

By Sarah White I wrote this in 2013. Today, I believe just as strongly in the importance of preserving family history as I did then. “The single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest … Continue reading →

By Marlene B. Samuels Of course it had to be so, my eight-year-old self reasoned. Jake, my twelve year-old brother, and I sat in the kitchen eating breakfast. That particular morning we were enjoying a special treat: the chocolate milk … Continue reading →

By Sarah White Forward Marching Band at the Orton Park Festival, August 2021, Madison Wisconsin In the 1960s, a high school stood behind our house in Carmel, Indiana, separated from our yard by a chain link fence. Beyond the fence … Continue reading →

By Marlene B. Samuels “Mom, what happened to your breast?” the girl asked periodically when she was a child. She became ever more persistent as she was maturing and gaining a natural awareness of her own female attributes. “The S.S. … Continue reading →

Come along as Barb Gilbertson experiences the “branching point” of a lifetime. To read Part 1, click here. To read Part 2, click here. By Barb Gilbertson Ten days on board a ship!  What a beginning to our three-and-one-half-month adventure. … Continue reading →

Come along as Barb Gilbertson experiences the “branching point” of a lifetime. To read Part 1, click here. By Barbara Gilbertson “You know, Bill…she will never be the same” …my mother said to my father as they assembled with hundreds … Continue reading →

This post resumes a now-occasional series on our experiences under COVID-19, inspired by the realization that “we are all field collectors” in the effort to someday tell the story of what happened in 2020. I welcome your submissions: find guidelines for guest writers here.   By … Continue reading →