Sunrise courtesy of Pixabay Sunrise, Sunset, Swiftly Go the Years Recently I attended a funeral Mass for my friend Steve from high school days. Many mutual friends attended, and much of his family, some of whom I knew, and some met that afternoon. We shared so many memories, stories, pictures, music, food, laughter, and some tears. Even a bit of genealogy and family history! The Sixties and Seventies when we all knew one another seemed so close, and yet eons ago. We've lost some friends along the way too, and their parents; and in that way it all seems like a distant past. And yet, as I re-introduced myself to so many, we're the same people we were, with more white or less hair, more wrinkles, some crutches and canes. The young ones playing or crying in the aisles of the church showed that life is moving on. In the words of Barbra Streisand,"memories may be beautiful and yet, what's too painful to remember we simply choose to forget. So it's the laughter we will re...

New Mexico Wildfire- -Silver City Sun-News Devon Noel Lee is back! The Family History Fanatics team had to flee their home to escape the terrible forest fires in New Mexico, and have recently been able to resume their informative, useful videos. Devon's first loves in genealogy are first, research, and then writing about family.  Write a Timeline Recently I watched one of her short writing videos called " Write a Family History Story in Chronological Order | FIRST DRAFT ONLY " which seems so logical! Notice the "first draft only" part of the title. Writing out a timeline can sort your thoughts and yield insights about what happened in the family, such as births happening during travel, deaths of family members close together, when and where the land purchases took place, all of which might otherwise not be noticed. You may notice holes in your research as you write, which will pause the writing while you chase down those records and complete finding context and...