Monthly Archives: September 2013

My mother was ahead of her time.  She understood health and nutrition like few did back in the 1970s when I was growing up.  She went to classes and read books, she cooked clean healthy foods, and she bought an assortment of … Continue reading →

Growing up on a farm and living out in the country meant we didn’t have our trash picked up. The wet trash we flung into the field to the north of the house. The bottles and cans went into one … Continue reading →

On July 1st I wrote about the home my Grandpa Rudolf grew up in.  I included this photo I took of this home in 2007, the last time I visited my ancestral hometown of Grossgartach (now called Leingarten): I’ve been … Continue reading →

Here is an excerpt from the book, Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 6, p.485-486, about my 3rd Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth Degen Bushman: Elizabeth Degen Bushman was born September 12, 1802, in Holstein, Basselland, Switzerland. Her father was John Casper Degen. Her mother … Continue reading →

Several times in the last week or two as I lie in bed, not sleeping, my thoughts have turned to two of my father’s cousins, Walter and Heinz Wäcker. I’m not sure why their faces keep coming to me when … Continue reading →

A year ago I volunteered to teach a family history class in our neighborhood.  My bookclub girlfriends talked me into doing it.  They all came.  So did a lot of other people.  Then they told other people about it and … Continue reading →