Unlike many who search their family past only to discover precious little, I am uniquely blessed with a rich narrative tapestry covering more than eight centuries. One that starts in the 12th century on the blood-drenched battlefields of Europe and weaves its way through the steaming jungles of the Amazon, the fertile pampas of Argentina and finally to California's Central Valley. My family tale reads like a great novel, evoking the grand sweep of history, bursting with complex intrigue, compelling family drama, and fascinating personal stories.
Captivating as the history was, as I delved deeper into my research, year after year, I started to feel oddly empty. I thought I knew what this ancestral gift meant to me, but I hadn’t gone deep enough. For years I had only focused on facts and figures and not on the emotional component of my ancestor’s lives. Once I did, my research took on a more profound dimension and I was able to understand their lives and myself in a whole new way. Ultimately, my journey to share my family’s story has been an effort to tell my own.
I will be presenting Finding My Family, Finding Myself on March 23rd in Salt Lake City at the Story@Home Conference, a storytelling conference held in partnership with RootsTech. I feel it is a unique opportunity to tell my story and am deeply honored to be presenting among such amazing company.
To register for the Story@Home conference which runs from March 21st through the 23rd click here.
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