Roots & Rabbit Holes

For Week 36 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks , I'm sharing one of my favorite family stories. It's one my Nana often told me. As a...

Week 25 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Fan Club." If you’ve done more than dip your toe into genealogy, you’ve likely...

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...

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,...

It's Week 8 of 2025's 52 Ancestor Challenge . This is a little story my grandfather wrote down about his grandmother coming from Canada...

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 ....

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...

“Full House” is the prompt for Week 42 of 2024’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.  Managing a home with five kids can be chaotic. ...

“Fire! Fire! Get out, quick!” November 29, 1929 was a bitterly cold and icy night in Westbrook, but five-year old Phil, his parents, and...

Week 37 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Tombstone.”   Childhood mortality was much higher in the past, but just because it...

Week 34 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Member of the Club.”  Two of my great-grandmother’s sisters were members of a club...

Week 32 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Free Space." I've been busy transcribing letters and postcards. This is one...

Today, April 8, 2024, we’re expecting a total solar eclipse.  Back in 1932 when Grampy Phil was eight years old, there was also a total...

The “Bridge Street bums” – those who attended Bridge Street School in Westbrook– went on occasional field trips to the movies, the beach,...

Great-great grandma Georgie was a legend in our family.  My grandfather adored his grandmother, so we grew up hearing stories about her...

Week 44 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Spirits.” There were no ghosts in my grandparents’ cobbled-together home, but...