As a young girl I often admired this sampler that hung in my Grandmother Florence’s bedroom. I didn’t know anything about it, only that I loved the intricate, colorful flowers against the black background. When she passed away my mother brought it home and hung it in her bedroom. It became a fixture, but every so often I’d read it and think of Grandma’s patience in working the needle and embroidery floss. The sampler came...
Why is genealogy important? Joey Caccarozzo says, “I think it is important to understand the decisions, challenges, and sacrifices that our ancestors made in order for us to be living our lives today.” For today’s spotlight, she shares how she got started in family history, school projects that inspired her, and the what she does now to share family history with her children. I met Joey at a genealogical society seminar in our area a few months ago. Despite being a...
In honor of mothers everywhere, this month we’re reading Terry Ryan’s memoir: “The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less.” Growing up as the middle child in a family of ten, Terry watched her mother scrape together milk money by entering the jingle contests of the 1950s and 60s. Evelyn Ryan’s knack for rhyme enabled her to win one out of every four entries. Her husband’s drinking...
For May, the Family Locket Book Club for Kids is reading “Me and My Family Tree” by Joan Sweeney, illustrated by Annette Cable. We are sharing two family tree projects to do along with reading and discussing the book. This post contains affiliate links. If you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a small commission but it doesn’t change the price of the item. Kids love learning about their place in the world....
If I could travel back in time to meet an ancestor, I would go back to October 10, 1837, when my 4th great grandfather Thomas Bradley was committed to Lincoln Castle Prison for the manslaughter of his step-father. Lincoln Castle Prison Cell. Dave Hitchborne [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsWhile in prison for this misdeed, he might be in the state of mind to listen to a stranger from the future with this advice:...
Every spring when the tulips and daffodils start blooming I’m reminded of a story I heard when I first began my family history journey. My dad had just given me the suitcase full of his thirty years of research and I felt overwhelmed with the task ahead of me. I attended a local family history fair hoping for practical help and inspiration. In one of the classes, the young presenter related a story written by...
As a family historian who likes to share what I’m working on, I often have big ideas for holiday gifts – books full of stories and photos of ancestors, unique family tree charts, and photo pendants with beautiful ancestor pictures. These are fun and rewarding to create but if you haven’t planned far enough in advance, it’s easy to run out of time. Also, after FamilySearch CEO Steve Rockwood’s talk at RootsTech about sharing 1 minute stories, I’ve...
Do you want to get started in Family History but you’re nervous about the time commitment or your abilities? Do you feel overwhelmed whenever you think about just getting started? Today I’d like to spotlight my friends and neighbors, the Rickenbach family. We belong to the same LDS ward and I’ve worked with their family for the last several months doing family history. Craig and Corinne took my beginning Family History Sunday School class in...
How do you help a child who has lost a beloved parent or grandparent? In our own grief do we sometimes dismiss that of our children? This week I wrote about dealing with the loss of loved ones by creating forget-me-nots, memorials to help keep our loved ones present in our lives. I thought of my sister, Nancy, and her son, Ty. He was just twelve when his grandpa died and he really suffered from the...
Losing a loved one is part of life. Living without that loved one is also a part of life, but how can you keep their memory alive in a meaningful and appropriate way? Allison Gilbert, author shows us how in her new book “Passed and Present.” (This is an affiliate link. If you click the link and make a purchase, we receive a small commission). We love the book so much, we want to give...