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Did I Meet My Goals in 2025?

Inspired by Linda Stufflebean's post about hitting her genealogy goals in 2025 , I thought I'd recap mine as well. How did I do?  Here's what I had planned back in January in my post "Hitting the Target in 2025 ," and if I achieved my goals. Attend the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and participate in the 14-Day Research Like a Pro 14-Day Challenge Accomplished both!  I really enjoyed Gena Philibert Ortega's SLIG course "Advanced Techniques: Material Culture Research Techniques for Genealogy" in January. What a wide-ranging group of lecturers were part of this course! It was a feast. It also inspired me to take an in-depth look at one piece of material culture that I own: my grandmother's Slovak catechism booklet. I wrote about that in several blog posts beginning with "Katechismus: Finding Meaning in Grandma's Artifact." For the Research Like a Pro 14-day Challenge, I had fun attempting to track down a marriage record for my...
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So Many Stories to Tell

Young Thomas J. "Tommy" Kozlina and my mom Anna Margaret Kozlina.
Friends,

This past year, I have dedicated much time to my favorite hobby: family history. I have read books, listened to podcasts, attended workshops, and begun again, to research our family lines.

I do so for a variety of reasons, but mainly I am intrigued and excited by the people the research reveals. At first, it was all about the names and dates, and "how far can I get back?" And, while that is still somewhat of a focus (Apparently, we cannot go back to Ireland until I find out where the Casey line is from!), I find more and more that I am just drawn into the stories that emerge, as I find more details of our ancestors' lives.

There's the funny stuff : "Polish Wedding Causes Trouble," is the headline of a newspaper article featuring my great grandmother Margaret McAndrew Gilbride. We'll save that one for another post.

There's everyday life: "So-and-So is visiting their mother this week." The not-so-everyday: "Sleeping Sickness Fatal to Girl."

There are stories which break your heart, and ones that make you nod your head and say, "Oh, so THAT's why..."

There are discoveries of familial likenesses, shared hobbies, tales of travel from abroad, and tales of deeply held American roots. There are railroad men, a hockey player, a prominent blacksmith, several coal miners, a nun and a priest...

Newspaper snippets - the Facebook of the time - recording who visited whom, or who wore what to whose wedding. There are both slices of everyday life and memorable moments in photo. There are bunches of interesting folk, who lived sometimes ordinary, sometimes extraordinary lives.

So many stories to tell. And here in this little space, I hope to share them with you.

Come on along.
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