A Journey Begins

Nancy Gilbride Casey, June 2024

 

I'm taking on Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge again this year. 

I've participated in her challenge several times before, and some years were more successful than others. Some prompts bring a story to mind immediately; but not every prompt word or phrase resonates with me, and a fitting ancestor for the topic does not always spring to mind.

But that's okay, according to Amy! Her challenge is more about getting a researcher to write more, and to bring their ancestors to life. I'll use the prompts when I can, and when they're not speaking to me, I won't sweat it. 

I still plan to write every Wednesday in my normal weekly post; these #52Ancestors posts will be more like "bonus" content.

The first prompt of the 2025 challenge,"In the Beginning," got me pondering my genealogical journey. Where did it all begin for me? What I found was...

 

The seeds were always there.

Glimpses of black and white photographs in large albums put together by my mother when my parents were first married.

Mom pointing a finger up a hill in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, saying, “I was born up there at my grandmother’s house.”

Grandma Kozlina saying phrases in Slovak that usually had us kids giggling.

Mom grabbing my hand to teach me a few dance steps she learned during her Croatian folk dance troupe days.

Visiting the “Croatian home” in Cleveland when Grandpa Kozlina came for a visit.

While none of these made a huge impression in the moment, over time these incidents sparked a curiosity in me: Where was I from? Where did our family come from?

Later, there were family tree charts in baby books given to me by my mother for the births of our children. I did not know how to fill in some of the branches of those trees much past my grandparents.

And I wanted to know. I wanted to give that gift of knowing, not only to myself, but to our children.

I knew that we were Irish on Dad's side, and that Mom’s grandparents were from “Czechoslovakia,” and “Yugoslavia.” It all seemed so exotic.

I began to ask questions of my mother, my father, my aunts and cousins. Who were the people that filled in those leaves on the family tree? And slowly, I began to collect names and dates and places. I started to organize what I found into a red binder, which was quickly outgrown. My husband got me Family Tree Maker in the early 2000s so that I could keep track there, and in 2012, I was given my first Ancestry subscription. That opened the door to the world of genealogy to me. I have never looked back.

I entered the world where discovering the stories, cracking the puzzles, finding new cousins, and making connections between past and present are some of the most fulfilling, challenging, sometimes maddening, and interesting pursuits I’ve had in my life.

In 2018, I began to document the stories I could not wait to tell in my blog Leaves on the Tree. I have written over 250 posts documenting family stories, uncovered mysteries, research discoveries, and much more. Through it, I have found new cousins, eager research partners, and most importantly, resonance. A story I write might reflect another’s experience, and usually, they are eager to say so. Sometimes, just sharing a photo or a special family memory elicits a “Thanks for posting that,” from a cousin.

I could not have imagined how humbling I have found my ancestors’ journeys, and the pride I feel for them. How can anyone remain unmoved when learning of the challenges they faced, the losses they survived, and the blessings they were given? Or their bravery in coming to America, learning a new language, making a new life for themselves, fighting our nation’s battles, or opening the country’s frontiers. Moving, always moving, upwards, outwards, striving.

Our story is an American story, intertwining lines from Croatia and Slovakia to Belgium, Scotland, and Ireland, and weaving them into a beautiful tapestry which I call my family. And now this family is joined with my husband’s deeper American story of pilgrims and pioneers which stretches from Plymouth to Oklahoma Territory, Tennessee to Coahuila y Tejas, Kansas to Arkansas, and further…moving, always moving.

I’m amazed at how far this journey has taken me, and how much I have learned about the remarkable families which fill our family tree. I can’t wait to see what I discover next.