Grandma’s Necklace

My mother recently revealed a secret she uses to entice our young son to spend time effortlessly in her arms (and, subsequently, away from his parents). Part of the reason she plots for such assurances of holding her grandson is that she feels like she is a stranger to him. As I’ve said before my wife and I live near 1000 miles away from family. The distance between Grandson and Grandparents is a great distance only closed (partially) by video chat via the internet. My mother was tired of being “digital Grandma.” She revealed her secret to me and I … Continue reading

How Far Would You Go to Become a Grandparent?

Marissa Evans always dreamed of being a grandmother to her son’s children. Unfortunately, her 20-year-old son’s life came to an abrupt end a few weeks ago when several men assaulted him. According to police reports, Nikolas Colton Evans and his friend were approached by a group of men as they exited a bar in Austin, Texas around 2 a.m. on March 27th. Police say one of the men punched Evans, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground. Evans was transported to a local hospital where he eventually died a few days later. But this sad story … Continue reading

Celebrities and Valentine’s Day

Do you have a date for Valentine’s Day? If not, you’re not alone. In fact, some of Hollywood’s biggest names recently revealed that they have no plans to celebrate Love Day tomorrow. For example, The Office star Jenna Fisher dished that she won’t be sipping champagne and munching on truffles tomorrow. Rather, the actress says she will be attending her friend’s daughter’s bat mitzvah. Grammy-winning singer Duffy admits that she won’t be celebrating Valentine’s Day with the traditional romantic dinner and sweet sounding cards. Instead, the songstress says she plans to spend the night serenading “beautiful men”… in a gay … Continue reading

Grandma in the White House

Now that they’ve exhausted the puppy issue, the media has suddenly become obsessed with the prospect of Michelle Obama’s mother becoming the First Grandmother and moving into the White House with the rest of the family come January. Granny’s in the hoooooouse! According to news reports, after some prodding, Michelle convinced her 71-year-old mother Marian Robinson to leave her home on the South Side of Chicago and move to Washington, D.C. with the rest of the Obama’s. Initial reports had the Obama’s looking for new digs for Robinson near the White House, but now some media outlets are reporting that … Continue reading

After the Election: Oprah’s “Human Hanky” and Obama’s Poet—-Not

The queen of talk referred to him as “Mr. Man” while others dubbed him “Oprah’s human hanky.” Two days after appearing on newscasts broadcast around the world the bespectacled man who gave Oprah Winfrey a shoulder to cry on in Grant Park on Election Day finally revealed his real name: Sam Perry. Sam is the man… for now anyway. Perry’s 15 minutes of fame kicked off Tuesday night during President-elect Barack Obama’s acceptance speech. The Silicon Valley, California businessman and Obama campaign worker gained instant fame after video crews caught a teary Winfrey draped over his shoulder during the politician’s … Continue reading

Barack Obama’s Big Win and Tragic Loss

As you know, the Illinois Senator Barack Obama pulled off the biggest win of his political career last night. Last night, as the incumbent president gave his acceptance speech, he was surrounded by his family and approximately 240,000 supporters. He should be on top of the world at this particular moment in time. (Photo has been released into the public domain by the photographer, Tim Bekaert) But, there was something that put a damper on Obama’s history making win. His maternal grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, died two days before the election. Madelyn and her husband, Obama’s maternal grandfather Stanley, raised … Continue reading

The Love Between Grandmother and Grandson

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama just returned to the campaign trail after a brief 22-hour stop in Hawaii to visit his gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother. According to news reports, Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham is recovering from a broken hip, in addition to battling a recurrence of cancer. She also suffers from osteoporosis and has had a corneal transplant. In explaining Obama’s sudden trip to his childhood home, the senator’s spokesperson noted that Dunham’s health had deteriorated “to the point where her situation is very serious.” Yet, some in the media had the audacity to question whether Obama’s flight to Hawaii was … Continue reading

A Few More Genealogy Words You Don’t Know

It can be interesting to find out the meanings of obscure, rarely used, genealogy terms, words, and phrases. If you are someone who likes to play with language, or who loves doing crossword puzzles, then you probably find it fun to learn new words. I thought that every genealogy dictionary would hold pretty much the same words. To my surprise, this assumption is not true at all! So far I have wandered through the Genealogy Glossary on the Family Tree Magazine website, the ROOTS Genealogical Dictionary, and the Glossary of Terminology at Genealogy Quest. This time, I decided to see … Continue reading

Book Reviews: Books on Families

Two general books about families include adoptive, multi-racial and special-needs families that will be of interest to adoptive families. The photos in both will appeal to young children and the text will spark discussion for older children and their parents. Photographer Ann Morris ‘ trademark style is books with one theme, such as “Work”, “Hats”, “Carrying Babies”, and show pictures of people all around the world doing these things. The text is kept simple and the photos speak for themselves, although an index in the back provides a caption for each picture explaining what country it was taken in and … Continue reading

How Often Do You Swing with Your Kids?

My kid’s been swinging since she was five-weeks-old. Now, at the ripe old age of four, she finds it more enjoyable to push me on a swing, then jump on the one next to mine and race me to “the moon.” I never win that game. Be that as it may, swings, or perhaps more specifically, parents swinging with their children, has been a hot topic this week following the delivery of a new pimped out swing set to the White House. Apparently, President and Mrs. Obama decided to treat their daughters, 7-year-old, Sasha, and 10-year-old, Malia, to a deluxe-edition … Continue reading