Category: Family
My Family Story: The Complicated Life of Alice Jenkins (1873-1898)
Content Note: slavery, white privilege, sexism One of the few family history things that I knew growing up was that my great-grandmother, Harriet Hackney, was from rural Tennessee. She died before I was born so I didn’t know her personally, just through stories that my mother shared with me about her ‘Nana.’ The general impression […]
An Essay About St. Patrick’s Day and My Not-So Irish-American Cultural Heritage
Growing up in a working class Pittsburgh suburb, I knew two things to be true about my family – we were Roman Catholic and we were Irish (with a little German.) We were Irish Catholics and celebrated St. Patrick’s Day robustly. St. Patrick’s Day is also my younger brother’s birthday. Robustly meant lots of green […]
The Confidence of an Olympian
One thing that always amazes me about Olympic athletes, especially the young ones, is their confidence. They might nervous or anxious, but they have demonstrated to themselves that they *can* do this thing, this feat of physical strength and grace. They know they are among the very best for a reason – they earned it. […]
My Family History Christmas Edition: Grandma’s Date Nut Pudding Recipe
For most of my childhood and young adulthood, my paternal grandmother baked these puddings for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She made one per household for her three adult children, one for her own household, and one for the family meal. She may have baked more on occasion as a gift for a friend or hairdresser or […]
US Supreme Court Leaves Stand Texas High Court Ruling Undermining Marriage Equality
This is a nightmare scenario for me. I am not being histrionic, or perhaps I am being consistent with the histrionic level I’ve been maintaining on domestic partner benefits since 2014. The US Supreme Court has let stand a Texas Supreme Court ruling that there is no established right to spousal benefits in same-sex marriages. […]
Dear Santa Letters from My Great-Grandmother Circa 1896
One of the sweetest moments in my family tree exploration was the discovery of a very simple item – a letter to Santa published in the Pittsburgh Press on 18 December 1896. The author was a 6-year-old girl named Jennie Rice. She lived at 70 Poplar Alley in the Lower Hill District. Jennie was either […]
Five Bright Spots in My Thanksgiving
Our holiday was perfectly fine. The food was great, the family was all there, etc. But I feel like there was a lackluster veneer between me and everyone else. I’m sure part of that is depression over the menstrual period I’ve been having for two solid months as it sucks all the good out of […]
My Family Story: The Long Life of Regina Gallagher (1864-1960)
I’ve blogged about my four paternal 2x great grandmothers. Most people have eight 2x great grandmothers, four on the paternal side and four on the maternal. Now it is time to move onto my maternal side. I’m starting with Regina Gallagher Kramer who spent her entire life in rural Butler County. Regina’s entry has been surprisingly […]
My Family Tree: Unexpected Loss of My Cousin Brian Koerber
This is a hard time of year for me. In 2007, my dear old friend died at age 41. In 2010, my elder maternal cousin Theresa died at age 45. In 2012, another old friend and brother to my college roommate died at age 45. His name was Kevin. I’m now older than all of […]
Tracey, 58, is a Queer Mother Parenting Nonbinary Children #AMPLIFY
What motivated you to take part in this project?
Living my truth, parenting non-binary children, wanting to do the best for my family and my clients.