I began collecting family stories when I was still a teenager. I was fascinated by how different life was for my great aunts and uncles and Grandparents growing up in the early 1900s in Northern Arizona. After I married, I began collecting the family stories of my husbands family, most of whom had been in the United States for only two to three generations. I learned about how they had come from goat herding in Italy, escaping from Russia controlled Poland, and looking for a better life from Croatia. I have copied, transcribed and shared these stories so that they would not be lost even though all of the loved ones who related the stories are gone now.
I believe that each person’s life stories are unique and fascinating no matter how “ordinary” they believe they are and are worth preserving and passing on as a legacy. Through personal interviews using photos, mementos, and heirlooms, those stories can be captured and put on-line to share with loved ones and friends.
I have also used family stories and documents to fill in the blank spaces of my family tree and have helped others to do the same, including time spent volunteering at the Mesa Family History Library as well as one-on-one in home visits.
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