Saturday We arrived at the Courtyard Marriott around 7 pm, and within five minutes of dropping our bags, we were seated at a table in Connor’s Restaurant. I ordered enchiladas—a very uncharacteristic choice for me—which turned out to be a mistake. (Let’s just say I began eyeing our limited supply of Tums with concern.) Conference […]
Read MoreI’ve always believed that things happen for a reason—even if we don’t always see it right away. Some connections are too powerful, too precise, to be chalked up to coincidence. In January, a man walked into the Woodbury Public Library and stopped at the small display about my family’s Holocaust-era history. He paused. Looked at […]
Read MoreJust steps from the turquoise shimmer of Mermaid’s Cave on Oʻahu’s west side, you might notice something unexpected — a scattering of old headstones embedded directly into the volcanic rock. They’re weathered by salt and time, some with pipes or metal tubes rising from the sand. They aren’t decorations or markers for Mermaid lore. They’re […]
Read MoreNote: I’m sharing this on both my genealogy blog and the site for Nothing Really Bad Will Happen, since it ties into the true family history that inspired the novel. May 8, 1945—Victory in Europe Day. For millions around the world, it was a moment of celebration: Nazi Germany had surrendered, the war in Europe […]
Read MorePosted by Deborah Samuel Holman, Author of Nothing Really Bad Will Happen and the upcoming children’s version inspired by it NOTE: This post also appears on my author and book blogs—because it touches all three worlds. When I began adapting my adult novel Nothing Really Bad Will Happen into a version for my 6-year-old grandson, […]
Read MoreCheryl spent most of today at the Family History Library, making solid progress tracking down documents for her Mayflower Society application. Meanwhile, all the excitement from the past week—plus the whirlwind of family events before I even made it to Salt Lake City—finally caught up with me. I took things slow, working on marketing for […]
Read MoreA Sunny Day in Salt Lake City (Despite the Forecast!) We woke up around 9:30 a.m. and headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast—always a solid way to start the day. After that, we set out for a nice walk around Salt Lake City, revisiting a few places we’d been to on a previous […]
Read MoreRootsTech is always an energizing whirlwind of ideas, connections, and discoveries, and this year was no exception! Today was the last day of classes, but Cheryl and I are staying a couple extra days to make use of the Family Search Library. My first session of the day was Using ChatGPT as Your Personal Writing […]
Read MoreWe woke to a gray snowy scene outside our window. Thankfully our hotel is just a minute walk away. Before I head to the first session let me tell you something…I’ve got a secret. Which I’ll be divulging tomorrow. For now, let’s just say I’ve had to embrace my second “career.” So, this session was […]
Read MoreMistakes I Have Made: Confessions of a Repentant Genealogist Day 1 of RootsTech was packed with insightful sessions, and I’m kicking things off with one that really resonated with me—because, let’s be honest, we’ve all made mistakes in our genealogical research. Cheri Hudson Passey delivered a fantastic and, at times, painfully relatable session on the […]
Read More
Who We Are and How We Got This Way 