Category: family tree

  • Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow: Every Color Beautiful (Chapter 29)

    On Christmas morning, Brenda was busy playing with her new toys in the living room, remarking that she needed a cradle and a buggy for the baby doll. Hannah worked in the kitchen at preparing a sweet potato casserole for later that day.  The whole family would be gathering at her parents’ house that afternoon…

  • Blogmas 2018 – Day 12 #christmas #blogmas #blogmas2018 #christmas2018

      https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcyndi.hilston%2Fvideos%2F10154756953580030%2F&show_text=0&width=560   Merry Christmas!! As a gift to you, I’m sharing with you a part of a Christmas chapter from my story, Hannah’s Rainbow, which is based on my late grandma’s life. I recreated what a typical Christmas morning was like at my house when growing up and Grandma would spend the night. While…

  • Blogmas 2018 – Day 8 #christmas #blogmas #blogmas2018 #christmas2018

      A Merry Christmas Smiles frozen in time decorate ruddy faces And stare back at me, all bundled and warm In holiday sweaters and knitted hats. My fingers gently grace the baby Who was once me in the old Polaroid, The white tree with the red bulbs And our stockings with our names in the…

  • Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow: Every Color Beautiful

    Standing around the perimeter of the ballroom rented for the occasion, Hannah shifted uncomfortably in a deep red taffeta evening gown and in heels that were too high for her taste.  She lifted her right hand to her hair and smoothed it down. She wasn’t accustomed to such luxury, and without Maria’s help, she wouldn’t…

  • Excerpt from Hannah’s Rainbow: Every Color Beautiful (Chapter 3)

    While the summer of 1918 was rough because of one childhood illness after another, Hannah enjoyed the last two weeks outside before school resumed.  Ma had a piano in the living room, which she seldom played, but Hannah began taking lessons on it. The busyness of raising a family afforded her little time to devote…

  • Review of The Memory Tree (Carson Chronicles Book 2) by John A. Heldt

    The Memory Tree is the second in the Carson Chronicles series, immediately following the events of the first book, River Rising. Please read my review of the first book here. In book two of the five-part series (books three through five still to be released), we follow the Carson family from 1889 to 1918. The…

  • Remembering Grandpa by Creating Him

    Remembering Grandpa by Creating Him

    We stood in the basement of my grandma’s old house, the place I visited every Sunday afternoon as a child. I was now an adult. While I knew she had passed away years ago, as had the man with me, the moment felt so real. The security of his arms around me, the steady rise…

  • Old Family Pictures & Genealogy: Our Connection to the Past

    I can still remember sitting at the dining room table in my grandma’s house and looking at old family pictures. Those days were at least 25 years ago now. When you’re a kid, time almost seems to stand still. Those Sunday afternoons at Grandma’s house seemed like they would never end. Now I cannot believe…