The Prodigal Returns

I've been on a little hiatus for the past couple of weeks, as that thing called "real life" interfered with my desire to post on the blog.  But I'm back and will be posting regularly, I hope!  I've got work to do before the Genealogy Jamboree at the beginning of June!

Comments

  1. Jacqi StevensThursday, 23 April, 2015

    Glad to see you back, Elise--and looking forward to connecting at Jamboree!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a German Surname? Try Geogen.

Image
This morning I was contributing to a thread in the German Genealogy facebook group; a researcher had asked for help in figuring out the German equivalent of the surname Workman . One of the most useful sites I've found for investigating German surnames is Christoph Stoepel's "Geogen" sites. "Geogen" stands for "genealogical geography," and his site will help you locate possible points of origin for your German ancestors. When you put in a name, a map will show you where your family name is found today; the information is current rather than historical but still very useful, since German families tend to be a lot less mobile over the years than are families in the United States. A caveat, though:  if your ancestor's name is Schmidt or Meyer, you'll have a much harder time getting a lead because those names are so common. The less common the name is, the more luck you're likely to have.  Also, the site is most helpful if your family came
Read more

Blog Caroling 2017 -- The Holly and the Ivy

Image
Joining footnoteMaven's annual tradition of Christmas blog caroling!  I've chosen one of my favorite carols to present: All Free Download.com "The Holly and the Ivy" is an English carol that probably had its origins in the 18th century.  Holly is an ancient symbol for Christ, sometimes referred to as "Christ's thorns," and the berries stand in for drops of blood.  The holly and the ivy together represent Jesus and the Virgin Mary.  The use of holly and ivy as decorations predates Christ, however -- they go back to Roman times and pagan celebrations.   The melody is simple and sweet.   Why does the ivy appear so little in the song?  Folklorists guess that it's a holdover from older songs like "The Contest between the Holly and the Ivy," in which the holly represents the masculine and the ivy the feminine. The symbolism is embedded in the lyrics. 1 The holly and the ivy, When they are both full grown,
Read more

Sentimental Sunday: Mother's Day, 2016

Image
We siblings have missed our mom for a very long time -- she passed away far too soon, in 1989, when she was only 62 years old.  Because her side of the family is so long-lived (her mother died at 96, her brother at 94), we expected to have her for many more years, and her passing left a great hole in our hearts that can never be filled.  There's so much we'd like to talk with her about, show her, ask her -- especially whether she's doing fine now, and is she with our dad and everyone . . . I think this might be my favorite picture of her.  I can't quite figure out where it was taken -- it seems it might have been on an airplane, but there's a companion photo of my dad, and it looks like they weren't sitting together.  Oh well, yet another genealogical mystery never to be solved. Waltraud Marianna Sophie Berneburg Ortman This is what I love:  Our mom, all dressed up, hair all done nicely, looking so pretty.  What's most attractive is her look o
Read more