This past Sunday, I attended a fabulous presentation by Glenn Kurtz sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Connecticut (JGSCT). Glenn shared his book Three Minutes in Poland, in which he tells the story of a film he found in his parents’ closet. The film contained images of his grandparents’ trip to Europe in August […]
Read MoreDO say “I’m only redoing a book my father-in-law wrote 40 years ago. How long could that take?” DON’T be surprised when that turns out to be 8 months. DO decide to use justified margins after you’ve finished the main re-edit. It’s fun to re-format a 206 page document. DO use MS Word. Especially if […]
Read MoreIt seems appropriate on this Mothers Day of 2015 to reflect on how many changes there have been in my life since Mother’s Day 2014. First, and most sadly, we lost my husband’s sister, Margaret “Peggy” Ross on May 11, 2014. As her beautiful soul left this earth, another came. Our first grandchild, Jack Winchester […]
Read MoreOne of the first tasks in the Genealogy Do-Over was to interview family members. Sadly, we have almost no one left in my parents’ generation to interview. My mother, Doris Lichtenthal Falcone passed away on Dec. 2, 2011. Today she would have been 83 years old. I spent some time regretting the fact that I […]
Read MoreEstelle Byk Kesner The theme for Week 7 was “Love.” Admittedly, I’m a tad bit behind. Blame that on the Genealogy Do-Over. Oh, and the IRS. I wanted to get our taxes filed in case the Anthem Hackers stole our identity. Looks like we’re safe!! (But this is serious business. Close friends of ours did, […]
Read MoreThis week’s 52 Ancestor Challenge was “So Far Away.” I have chosen to research my last name as I believe it has Biblical origins. That’s pretty far away! In addition, Moshe Jacob Samuel is the furthest ancestor I know of. His son, Lazarus was born in England in 1795. Commercial websites such as The Internet […]
Read MoreAgain this week I have combined the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weekschallenge with Thomas MacEntee’s Genealogy Do-Over. Week 5 of the Do-Over had us focusing on building a research toolbox and on citing sources. My poor citing skill was one of the main reasons I decided to participate in the do-over. I had about 950 […]
Read MoreThe theme this week is to write about an ancestor closest to your birthday. I am simultaneously participating in the Genealogy Do-Over. Week #2 of the Do-Over had us “interview” ourselves and then write a biography. I decided to combine the two tasks and write about MYSELF. WARNING: THIS IS A LONG POST. I won’t […]
Read MoreSophie as a young girl Sophie Weiss was my maternal great-grandmother. Although she was quite wealthy at points in her life, I knew things had not always been easy thanks to stories my mother had shared with me. I also have many unanswered questions about Sophie’s life. Sophie, sister Rosa and brother Josef Vienna, Austria […]
Read MoreTopic: Setting Research Goals As Week #2 closes, I have made some decisions: 1) I will think of the Do-Over weeks as steps instead of weeks. 2) I will recreate my tree, beginning with me 3) As I add each new person to the tree, I will : gather, scan/photograph, record and file all documents I […]
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Who We Are and How We Got This Way 