Writer. History Geek. Joyful Soul.
Last August, I talked my mother and my husband into attending our first Zartman Family Reunion, an annual event that takes place on the second Sunday each August. We were vaguely aware of these reunions, but despite living less than two hours away from the location, we never quite made the effort to find out... Continue Reading →
Last week I went down a rabbit hole and never ended up posting anything. I’m not sure what drove me down this particular hole, but for some reason I started looking into the Wood family...and got sucked in for a number of days. I have several Wood and Woods lines that branch off my ancestral tree at... Continue Reading →
When I started this genealogical journey I assumed all roads led to Germany. A good number of them do. But for now, I’ve decided to take the road that keeps leading me to the most unexpected places… that “road” being my maternal grandfather, Clifford Preston McGuffin. For those of you who have been following my... Continue Reading →
“If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.” ― Henry Miller This week’s installment…which should have actually been posted over a week ago…has been a difficult one to get down on... Continue Reading →
In anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day next week, I decided to spend some time getting to know my Irish roots. I mentioned in an earlier post that the untimely death of my grandfather, Clifford Preston McGuffin, meant that his young daughters (my mother and her two sisters), grew up mostly unaware of their paternal ancestry…and... Continue Reading →
I came across Elmer and Frank a few years back when I was doing some research—looking for photos of Scottsbluff during the WWII era for a book I hope to write. I discovered many useful images on the American Memory website hosted by the Library of Congress, (visit http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html to view an amazing collection of... Continue Reading →
Mickey Herr 