Roots & Rabbit Holes

Week 21 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Military." Very few people would look at pictures of the youngest Kholmyansky...

Week 18 of the 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks covers institutions. Ralph Owen Turner’s obituary wasn’t remarkable in any obvious way. ...

This week's topic for the 52 Ancestors Challenge is supposed to be "Oldest Story" but I've covered my family's oldest story many times...

Week 15 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Big Mistake.”  I was going to write an entirely different mistake story, but...

Week 13 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Home Sweet Home.”   The Meloche family was astonished when they learned that...

I promised to do my best to publish something each week, even if it wasn't in keeping with the theme. This week's topic for the 52...

Week 11 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Brick Wall.”   My brick wall ancestor unfortunately hasn’t changed since I first...

Week 10 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Siblings.”   The LaViolet siblings like to joke that they were too poor for toys,...

Week 9 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Family Secret." I'm not sure whether or not this was a family secret, but when...

I'm sharing another letter from my grandmother Helen's old boyfriend, Charlie for Week 7 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge ....

The topic for Week 6 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Surprise.”  When I think of adjectives for surprise, the word shock...

Week 5 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Challenge”   We’re all familiar with the Rolling Stones’ song “Mother’s Little...

"Overlooked" is the topic for Week 4 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge . Family photos are wonderful inspirations for stories,...

Week 3 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Nickname." My grandmother Helen's ex-boyfriend, Charlie Knight, wrote this...

Week 2 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge covers one of my favorite prompts: “Favorite Photo.”  I have no shortage of them!  ...

“In the Beginning” is the prompt for the first week of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.   My obsession with genealogy began...

We’re closing out 2024’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge with “Resolution.”  I made a resolution at the end of 2023 to do a better job...

Week 50 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Chosen Family.” When Melanise Laberge took her husband John to court for failure...

The topic for Week 48 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Funny Story.”   “Ma, we’ve gotta go!  Everyone is waiting for us!”...

The topic for Week 45 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is “Colorful.”   Probably my favorite piece inherited from Nana Connie...