Hello + Welcome!
I’m Melissa, hobbyist family historian + genetic genealogist!
My dive into learning about my lineage started when I was just a small child, asking my maternal grandma, Eve, endless questions about our family that apparently inspired her to entrust me with the wealth of information she had accumulated and documented throughout her life. When she passed in 1997, much of what she held was passed down to me and I did my best to honor her and all those who’ve come before by continuing her research the “old fashioned” way.
When my mom passed in 2006, I was given a bit more of our family history, mostly in the form of old (largely unlabeled) photos and seemingly random notebooks filled with scribblings and old appointments.
Over the years, I would occasionally pull it all out to sort through it and try to make some sense of things, but there just seemed to be so many missing pieces of the puzzle.
Until, that is, I decided to take a DNA test in 2019 … a test that blew my origin story wide open. It would be an understatement to say that it changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. Pursuing genetic genealogy was like moving a pebble and uncovering a brand-new Universe.
Which brings us to present day, where I’m working to make sense of the past and leave it in (hopefully) better shape than it was given to me, gnarly branches and all.
Why bold+queer? Meet Hannah:
Hannah Ann, born in 1860, is my 2x great Grandma and is the inspiration for this space. A do-no-harm, take-no-shit kind of woman, Hannah was called “bold and queer” by her mother for acting outside the norm of her family and faith.
Bold was not a compliment at the time, and queer had not yet become a slur, but neither were meant to inspire her actions. Despite this, Hannah quietly embodied these labels throughout her life with grace and resilience by going against the grain, surviving unimaginable loss and heartbreak, and never ceasing to fight for what she knew to be good and true.
Focused on the Ancestors, not antiquated ideas:
In life and in this space I believe…
- Love is love
- Black lives & Indigenous sovereignty matter
- Healthcare is a fundamental human right
- Water is life
- No human is illegal
- Science & climate change are real
- Intersectional feminism is essential
- Truth & justice matter
- Kindness is imperative
Ever Onward
Inspired by Hannah’s steadfastness and bravery, I know my role as a future ancestor and intend to do my best to make those who’ve come before me and those who’ve yet to come as proud as possible.
Thanks for being here! Grab a cuppa, let’s fold time together!
Onward,
Melissa
Places I can be found beyond bold+queer:
- Sharing about life in general at Under the Elderberry Tree, my personal, no-niche blog.
- Tending soil at Ever Growing Farm.
- Scrolling Bluesky.
- Tracking all.the.books on theStoryGraph.
- Sharing the nitty gritty about my DNA Surprise here.
- Gabbing about goal setting, creative journaling, family history, and the divide between Gen X and Millennials here.