For years, I’ve been wondering how best to share what I’ve learned about our family’s history. Instead of waiting for perfect, I’ve decided it’s better to simply begin.

As I researched the lives of my grandparents and those of their ancestors, I began to realize that their stories weren’t just a collection of names and dates and isolated events. Each one was connected to something much larger — the settlement of new lands, the founding of a new country, and the exploration, infrastructure, and industries that helped it grow.