Visiting Your Ancestral Town 2nd Edition!

 Ancestral towns, Dakotas, Germany, Moldova, Poland, Ukraine  Comments Off on Visiting Your Ancestral Town 2nd Edition!
May 182015
 
Visiting Your Ancestral Town 2nd Edition!

It’s here! The 2nd edition of my book, “Visiting Your Ancestral Town,” is now available with a special price of $12.99 through 5/30 at Amazon. Have you ever wanted to walk in the footsteps of your ancestors? “Visiting Your Ancestral Town” encourages you to follow your dreams, gaining a deeper understanding of your family roots […Read more]

Oct 072014
 
Who Am I?

As I’ve become obsessed with the news from Ukraine, first the Maidan revolution and now Russia’s invasion, I’ve found I can turn almost any conversation with any group of people into a discussion about Ukraine and its politics. And so I’m often asked, “Are you Ukrainian?” The correct answer would seem to be no. No, […Read more]

I Wish I Were Polish

 Ancestral towns, Poland  Comments Off on I Wish I Were Polish
Mar 262014
 
I Wish I Were Polish

  Traveling to Poland and learning more about the Solidarity movement and the Warsaw Uprising gave me a whole new view of the Poles … and makes me want to claim some Polish heritage. It’s embarrassing to admit how little I realized the significance of Poland’s Solidarity movement in the 1980s to the ultimate fall […Read more]

Mar 142014
 
In Search of an Elusive Ancestral Town

Dripping blood, missing rental car, taxi careening through traffic—as I told the rental car agency guy (when we finally found him), “We’ve had a hard time leaving Warsaw this morning.” Once we were on the road though, things proceeded smoothly. Roads were clearly marked and matched my maps from Google. We drove straight to my […Read more]

Puddle-jumping to Christmas

 Ancestral towns, Dakotas  Comments Off on Puddle-jumping to Christmas
Dec 222013
 

I think it was the smallest commercial plane I’ve ever been on. Every seat was a window seat … and an aisle seat. Sitting in 1A, I could just about reach out and touch the pilot. None of that bothered me. I’ve been on small planes before. It was when I realized that the “flight […Read more]

Fading Family Roots

 Ancestral towns  Comments Off on Fading Family Roots
Oct 202013
 
Fading Family Roots

I went to a funeral last week and met my childhood. The funeral celebrated the 94 years of life of my friend Sharon’s father. It was held in the church where I grew up, in the neighborhood where I grew up. I recently moved close to my old Ballard neighborhood. Current-day Ballard is a trendy […Read more]

Ancestral Village Homecoming

 Ancestral towns, Greece  Comments Off on Ancestral Village Homecoming
Aug 022013
 
Ancestral Village Homecoming

I’ve found a new reason to love Greece. Of course I love it because I lived there years ago. When you experience daily life somewhere—grocery shopping with a phrasebook in hand so you don’t create a dinner disaster or enduring a monthly bill paying ritual with your landlady because you don’t have time to stand […Read more]