#1 Grandma's Letter

Grandma’s Letter

I don’t recall what compelled me to ask the question to my parents about my family history, but at age 12, I have a clear memory of the curiosity that started to build from their responses.  My father’s ancestral lines are 100% Swedish & he readily had a couple generations of information & memories; my mother’s ancestral lines were, to her knowledge, Irish and German.  Her knowledge was limited as it appears that family history was not a common topic of conversation growing up.  My paternal grandparents both died before I was born; my maternal grandparents were still living, albeit several states away in Minnesota.

And, so it began with a letter to Grandma.  She had precious few details, but it satisfied my 12 year-old’s curiosity.  Better yet, it was more than enough to get me started 30 years later when I jumped in with both feet into the vast and curious world of genealogy. To this day, I treasure her letter to me, from the pink floral stationery that she used, to her penmanship that I recognize from our ongoing letters, and to the snippets of knowledge she shared. 

To my children’s dismay, I have developed a deep respect for and interest in genealogy.  While raising three children with my husband and working full-time outside the home, my time spent on family history research is limited.  Taking a page from my ancestry cousin’s (3^rd cousin once removed) blog Nellie’s Basket, a must read, I created this blog to share information with my family, close and distant…and, of course, anyone else who has an interest in genealogy!  This is also my first adventure with blogs, so the percent likelihood of posting formatting mistakes and errors is moderate to high...Houston, we are go for launch!