It's Leaves on the Tree's 7th Blogiversary!

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Seven years ago, I had a crazy notion to start a blog about my family stories. I was sorting through family photos and was enjoying them so much; I wanted a place to post them and to tell the stories behind them. 

My very first blog featured this fun photo of my mom, Anna Margaret Kozlina (1937-2010) and her brother, Tommy Kozlina (1940-2015). I absolutely adore this photo! Mom looks cute and determined and the whole scene just looks like something out of The Little Rascals TV show. 

Two hundred sixty-seven (267) posts later, my goal of sharing photos and stories has mushroomed to include posts on my research discoveries, heirloom investigations, methodology, and more, and covers not only my direct family lines, but also my husband (the Hubs)'s lines. It's a big, happy mashup of families hailing from Slovakia to Oklahoma, Croatia to Ohio, Pennsylvania to Coajila y Tejas, and pretty much everywhere in between.

And it's been FUN! I am so excited to write every week to tell readers about all the cool things I've found. Our ancestors have done pretty interesting things, including immigrating from Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, and Slovakia and more; pushing the boundaries of the U.S. as they moved ever westward; powering U.S. industry in coal mines, factories, and railroads; stewarding faith—from Primitive Baptist to Roman Catholic—over time and generations, and more. Our family's women endured the tragedy of losing children to epidemics, accidents, and stillbirths. Our men fought in the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and other conflicts. It seems every day I discover something new and I'm eager to continue to uncover these stories.

Whether you read for the historical or social context of our families, appreciate the puzzling and sleuthing that goes into solving a mystery, like to look at the photos, or dig my quests to figure out this artifact or that heirloom, thank you for reading. Please feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I am very interested in what strikes you or touches you about a post and I always reply to comments.

Where will the next year take me? Who knows! But I'm eager to find out.

Until next time...on to year 8!

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved.

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