Posts about both sides of my family
We are all stories. Our stories are woven from the stories of our parents, our grandparents and so on through our ancestral trail. Some of our stories are more complex than others, their narratives ducking and weaving across and around war and trauma and flight. Some of our stories are
So far, I’ve had a lovely Mother’s Day. A phone call from my son who lives on the other side of the country, lunch with my eldest son, his fiancée and my two grandsons and I’m looking forward to going to the movies with my youngest son this evening. It
Last year, around Anzac Day, I discovered this article written by Minna Muhlen. As I read it I felt such relief, relief at finding someone else in Australia who is potentially struggling with the same emotions as I am. I debated with myself for quite a while, should I contact
Today is Easter Sunday. Although, if I were still following the Orthodox Easter traditions, it would be Palm Sunday. I was born on Palm Sunday, so many years ago, and it was actually Palm Sunday for both the Orthodox and Western churches. My mother was strictly religious. We fasted for
Ask your family. I’m lucky. My cousin on my father’s side of the family compiled a comprehensive genealogy of our family, wrote books on the subject and developed several family trees. My aunt wrote a journal which, despite being in German, is a valuable resource for me. I’ve also asked
When researching your family history, there is always a chance you will find a dark secret, or a skeleton in the closet, or the random tyrant or warlord. There is more of a chance you will discover your ancestors were honest hard-working people who got up in the morning, slogged