I originally posted these scrapbook pages in 2016, but thought I would “reprise” them in honor of the 14th anniversary of Mom’s passing. I actually had to do the math TWICE as I couldn’t believe that much time had passed. Looking back at these pages, I’m struck by how memory works—how it carries someone […]
Read MoreNOTE: This post has also been cross-posted to my author blog: https://deborahsholman.com/ I didn’t set out to write about a con artist. I wasn’t even researching criminals. I was trying to get the facts straight about my husband’s great-grandmother, known in the family as Catherine C. Fitzallen. I was scrolling through an Ancestry message board, […]
Read MoreOn Saturday, October 4, I had the pleasure of being a vendor at Family History Day, sponsored by the Connecticut Society of Genealogists. I always enjoy chatting with people who love family history, and inevitably, someone asks how I choose which ancestor to write about. For my first novel, Nothing Really Bad Will Happen, the […]
Read MoreI’ve been chasing my husband’s great-grandmother, Catherine Kenney, since 2015. She left behind a trail of contradictions that made her one of those maddening ancestors who seemed determined to hide in plain sight. But after years of digging, thanks to Scripty (my AI pal) I’ve finally cracked the case: where she was born, who her […]
Read MoreOmi’s Little Room I was killing time today at Adorn, a local vintage shop, when a little folding travel alarm clock caught my eye (yes, pun fully intended). Instantly I thought of my grandmother—our beloved Omi (Rose Spiegel Lichtenthal)—who always traveled with one just like it. Omi didn’t drive (something I couldn’t quite wrap my […]
Read MoreI’ve been stalling for a few days, deciding on a photograph on which to base my first blog post for the Geneabloggers Fab 40 challenge. And then today, Randy Seaver posted this prompt for his weekly Saturday Night Genealogy Fun—Do you recall the layout of one of your family homes? Can you estimate the size […]
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 MoreToday would have been my mother’s 93rd birthday. It’s been over a decade since she passed, but if I could have just one more day with her, I know exactly how we’d spend it. First, we’d pile all four of my grandchildren into the car and head straight to the Townhouse Diner in Hamden, CT. […]
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Who We Are and How We Got This Way 