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Folding the Past into the Present, Under the Elderberry Tree.

Posted on November 7, 2025November 7, 2025 by Melissa

Listen, the truth is, the ancestors don’t care about how or where we talk about them online. They care that they are remembered and honored, that their memories are passed from generation to generation through oral history, legacy, the Family Ofrenda, and the lives of their descendants. Sharing my personal family history stories and some…

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3+3 – September 2025 (Trying to Find My Groove)

Posted on September 18, 2025September 18, 2025 by Melissa

Well hello there! How the heck are you? Why yes…yes, it is mid-month and I’m just getting around to writing a few planning notes down for of September. Yeah, August was a doozy, between the farm/animal care, my daughter being home from all day every day after eight weeks of summer day-camp, and present life…

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3+3 – August 2025 (Needles & Haystacks)

Posted on August 1, 2025July 31, 2025 by Melissa

Welcome August and a renewed opportunity to reflect on what has been accomplished over the past month + what I intend to focus on in the coming month! July was my first attempt at (officially) laying out three goals for myself and holding myself accountable. Being a Hobby Family Historian and Genetic Genealogist offers a…

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Isaac C. Graves – Civil War Pension File (Request)

Posted on July 8, 2025July 4, 2025 by Melissa

A little over a year ago, much to my delight, I requested and received my very first Civil War Pension File. At well over 400 pages, the record blew my mind and offered several insights into John Patrick Brogan‘s Irish origins and USA experiences during and after the Civil War. Looking only one generation back,…

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3+3 – July 2025 (A New Approach)

Posted on July 1, 2025June 29, 2025 by Melissa

Welcome July and a new approach to attacking my ever-hopeful and never-ending task list: 3+3! As I mentioned in my last post and in bits and pieces elsewhere, we family historians tend to be quite passionate about the research and documentation of our families. Sometimes, that passion can turn on us, though, leading to guilt…

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Everything is Family History

Posted on June 26, 2025June 26, 2025 by Melissa

As a hobby family historian and genetic genealogist, I sometimes give myself a hard time for not devoting all of my copious free time to the depths of family history research. You know, accomplishing more and more towards that ever-elusive unicorn of a “finished tree” and holding in my hands every document available ever. Those…

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Where Past & Present Collide

Posted on May 27, 2025May 27, 2025 by Melissa

Goodness, I just fell right off there once the A to Z Challenge was completed, didn’t I? Apologies. I guess that’s what happens when a hobbyist’s best intentions collide with present time necessities 🙂 Alas, I am still alive and kicking (or up and not crying, if you will) after a May filled with a…

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My NPE Experience on the DNA Surprises Podcast

Posted on March 25, 2025March 25, 2025 by Melissa Willis

If you have experienced an NPE event, I imagine you know how earth-shaking it can be to have the very fabric of your being ripped apart and woven back together into a 3-D tapestry with brand new threads. Had you asked me in 2019 if I thought I might talk about the whole experience on…

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World Tuberculosis Day

Posted on March 24, 2025March 23, 2025 by Melissa Willis

Today marks the date in 1882 that Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacteria that causes Tuberculosis, also known as TB or (for us family historians) Consumption. To commemorate World Tuberculosis Day, I’d thought I’d share a personal story about TB. A story about how it brought my maternal Grandma from her hometown…

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HELLO & WELCOME!

I'm Melissa :-)

Ghost Chaser | Kin Seeker
NPE Survivor | Tea Drinker

As a hobbyist family historian and genetic genealogist, I find great joy in folding time with the Ancestors in an effort to best honor them while documenting their legacies for future generations. Grab a cuppa, let's sit for a spell and chat about ghosts!

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