Do you want to create your own family tree website but don’t know how to write code?  I’ve got just the tool for you!  It’s called The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding or TNG. I’ve seen this product at other conferences, but more recently I attended Laura Prescotts’ RootsTech lecture, “Publish Your Genealogy Online.” Laura [...]

Do your ancestors give you angst when you cannot find them or their family?  Mine do.  I love the words to a song from the musical, “Paint Your Wagon.”  It goes, “I talk to the trees, but they don’t listen to me.  I talk to the stars, but they never hear me.  The breeze hasn’t [...]

Dear Readers:  I received the following request from my son, Tim Werle.  I am passing it along here, hoping our online community will come together to help memorialize LA’s fallen firefighters.   Let’s use his request to learn from each other.  Please comment on where you would start and what process you would use to find [...]

When I talk about genealogy, Bruce’s eyes glaze over, and he makes grunting noises to make me think he’s listening to me, but I know he’s really thinking about how he’s going to plant the garden, finish building the shed, or plan our next trip. Imagine my surprise then, when I came home from a [...]

On a hot summer evening, Bruce and I packed our bags for a six week trip researching in England and driving around Europe.  Bruce donned shorts and a t-shirt and put his jacket in his suitcase.  We boarded the plane late at night and landed at London’s Heathrow airport early the next morning.  Of course [...]

On this Father’s Day, I think about my dad and the last time we were together.  Bruce and I had arrived in Los Angeles after a long flight from Sidney, Australia.  We had a few hours’ layover before boarding a flight to Portland, Oregon, where we lived at that time.  We were flying standby and [...]

A few days ago my phone rang and I answered it with my normal, “Good afternoon.  This is Susan.” The caller quickly said she was sorry, that she had dialed the wrong number. I thought I recognized the caller.  It sounded like a voice from the past, like my brother’s ex-wife.  They’ve been divorced many [...]

I am a Genealogy Junkie. It’s true.  Doctor says there is no cure.  It all started at age 13 when I began reading the “begats” in my little white Bible.  Finding Adam’s descendants listed, I grabbed a piece of paper and copied them down.  Then, I thought if I followed my own lineage back in [...]