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Family History

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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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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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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Folding Time on a New Platform

Posted on March 15, 2025March 15, 2025 by Melissa

If you’ve been around for a while, you might notice that the site looks a bit different today than it did last week! That’s because, after two years of genealogy blogging on Squarespace and micro-blogging on Instagram, I’ve decided to switch it up and move to WordPress. Why is that? Well, while Squarespace offered an…

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On Heritage Meals & Tradition Building

Posted on November 26, 2024March 15, 2025 by Melissa Willis

As we enter the Holiday Season, the cacophony of voices around family recipes and traditions and what we should all be doing with and for our families and friends is in full swing, but what if there was another option?

What if you gave yourself permission to build your own traditions and create menus filled with new heritage meals?

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One Simple Step Towards Documenting Your Family History

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Melissa Willis

Timing is everything when faced with interest in learning about our family history, isn’t it? It seems many of us aren’t incredibly interested in such things in our youth and by the time we begin to get the itch, many of our elders have already passed. So, how do we strike a balance? Well, if you’re here in this space with me now I’d wager a guess you have found an interest (even a tiny one) and may or may not be ready to fully dive in so I’m going to offer a simple suggestion: Begin by documenting the facts and stories passed down in your family.

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7 Topics to Include When Writing About Your Family History

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Melissa Willis

No matter what your personal goals are, if you are aiming to be comprehensive in documenting your family’s story, there are several details you should consider including to create a detailed and engaging narrative. Here are seven important topics I’ve come across in my research for you to consider as you begin (or continue) writing about your family history.

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Family History as a Remembrance Journey

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Melissa Willis

No matter where you are on your family history remembrance journey, it’s never too late to start or begin again.

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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!

POPULAR POSTS

Journaling in Family HistoryJournaling in Family History
One Simple Step Towards Documenting Your Family History
7 Topics to Include When Writing About Your Family History
Moving Pebbles: On Midlife & My NPE Experience
Why Bold + Queer? Meet Hannah Ann.
It’s been real, chasing ghosts with you all here i It’s been real, chasing ghosts with you all here in this little genealogical corner of the internet! Thank you for being you! 🌀

Join me, if you will, for a cuppa under the elderberry tree 💜
I finally got to work on my paternal grandma’s Her I finally got to work on my paternal grandma’s Heritage Journal spread! Whew…that created more of a speed bump than I anticipated but I’ve begun!  Woohoo! 🎉 

“Jean was a complicated woman who I never had the opportunity to meet and the more I learn about her, the more questions I have.

She is quite the enigma...

I’ve created layers and layers with colors and patterns and mini pages within the spread to be turned and lifted/looked into and beyond.

I know she loved music and gardens, so there’s that.”

More words + pictures + insights on the blog ❤️

💬 Have you been delaying on a project or task recently? How can you get out of your own way about it and just *start?
Faced with a brood of young children entering thei Faced with a brood of young children entering their teen years in the 1960s, my maternal grandma and grandpa decided to move the family out of New York City and to the country.

As writers and artists, the idea was simple enough…

“We had had the city. Obviously, our markets were there, but we couldn’t have cared less. The peculiar brand of writing and illustrating we do could be just as easily be airmailed to Kansas as carried by hand down to midtown Manhattan.”

More about their city-to-country life experience, on the blog: https://boldandqueer.com/what-it-was-really-like-to-move-to-the-country/
On the personal blog today, a “notebook meeting” w On the personal blog today, a “notebook meeting” with my six journals spanning from simple notes & a weekly planner to an everyday journal & a witchy Grimoire… From a dive into my family history & genetic lineage, to a brand new sketchbook. A peek into my pages & the pulse of my writer’s heart ❤️

There’s a new link in my b1o to my personal blog, Under the Elderberry Tree. Of course I’m still blogging on Bold+Queer, but some topics live beyond the family history/genetic genealogy niche, ya know? I’d love it if you’d head over, give it a read, and have a look at all the pictures 🌀

💬 Have you ever held a “notebook meeting” to assess what’s working and what’s not in your journal(s)?
Hi, hey, hello!!! I’m back! Well, sort of…in a lim Hi, hey, hello!!! I’m back! Well, sort of…in a limited way 🙃 I’m still doing my best to rage against the machine that is the USA and the horrors of the world at large, but I’ve also missed this amazing family history community so will be poking my head back in from time to time. 

I hope to show up for you, inspire you, and offer you some grace as we all document our ancestors and do our best to be good people in the present.

I’ve been up to a lot off this grid and shared a bit on the blog today. Pop over if you’re curious 🧐 

🗯️ How the heck are you?! What have I missed during my hiatus?
DtMF 💔 This song and all of the TikToks that have DtMF 💔 This song and all of the TikToks that have been made to it have had me in tears for days. While it is very specific to Bad Bunny’s experience, at the heart of it all, it is such a powerful and beautiful reminder to simply take more pictures, give more hugs, and say the words you long to say. There’s no grief like regret nor time like the present.
The first Monday of a brand new year, ha? Seems li The first Monday of a brand new year, ha? Seems like that should mean something, doesn’t it? 😅

Well, for me it means breaking open my 2025 weekly planner, adding a few lines to my crisp new journal because the last one was full after three years, and deciding to carry over my 2024 family history pocket notebook into 2025 because research and documentation doesn’t care about dates on a calendar and the questions unfold themselves across space and time 🌀

How are you doing on this fine day as we head into a new week/month/year? Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint ❤️
Dutch’s 1902 Christmas Wishlist: 1) A tool chest 2 Dutch’s 1902 Christmas Wishlist:
1) A tool chest
2) A magic lantern
3) A doll for my little sister

Be still my heart ❤️ 

My great grandpa, Dutch, had his letter to Santa published in the Chronicle Tribune (Marion, Indiana) on December 23, 1902 when he was seven years old 🎄

This simple find by the marvelous research librarian @marionpublibin has definitely made my month, maybe even my year (next to JPBs Civil War Pension file) and confirms my understanding of Dutch’s tough exterior and tender heart ❤️

The question is:
💭 Was he hoping for the sort of Magic Lantern that carried a wish-granting Genie? Or the newfangled projector sort? 🧐 What do you think?
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: 2 A carousel of photos and/or v FLASHBACK FRIDAY: 2

A carousel of photos and/or videos that include snapshots of my life and my family history work throughout the previous week, that have brought me joy, nostalgia, or a sense of accomplishment, with short descriptions.

1) Almost full!
2) Breakfast at my favorite spot
3) Contemplations on human vs corn genetics
4) 1948
5) Part panther 
6 & 7) Never not questioning
8) In gratitude for a new woodstove 🔥
9) Get it!

💭 What’s filling your cup this week?
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