Two years ago my mother was diagnosed with dementia. She had been losing her memory for a while, but we thought it was related to head trauma received in a car accident. But this was different. They didn’t call it Alzheimer’s, but it had the same effect. It was the beginning of the end of the mother I had known and loved.

Losing a parent piece by piece, memory by memory is a painful process. I wanted to capture everyone’s memories of her, but couldn’t bring myself to ask people to share. I tried to go through her genealogy and family history documents, to carry on her work, but it was too emotionally draining. Most of the time I ended up crying.

Mom was the family historian, the storykeeper. She knew the people in the photos, but never labeled them. She remembered the stories about aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents; but she didn’t write them down.

So now I’m picking up the mantle. This blog will chronicle my journey to discover and capture the family stories. It will document the frustrations, the lessons learned, and hopefully some great discoveries. I hope that I will be able to pass on some wisdom gleaned from my ancestors and from the process of learning about them.

I hope you will be able to relate to my adventure, be willing to comment from time to time, and consider sharing your own experiences that can help me and others like me.