Relics: Genealogy, family stories, history & other curiosities.

  Today is Father's Day and it's the first Father's Day I can't drive to the cemetery and visit my father.  I couldn't on his birthday this year or Christmas.  I know I promised I was done writing about the storm and that this blog was genealogy full steam ahead. So this may be considered genealogy adjacent.   My dad's ashes were left behind in Florida. I wanted to break him out and bring him with me but it would cost me about $4000. So I had to be practical. I needed every dime I had to move.  I will get him soon. I stopped to say goodbye and make sure the neighbor's flag wasn't blocking his name one last time right before I got on the road. I know lots of people don't like cemeteries. I know people who bury their loved ones and never go back. Those people think I am strange.  I love to visit cemeteries.  I always have.  When I was young, once or twice a year my dad, would take my nana to the cemetery to plant geraniums. She would tell me ab...

I have been wanting to write about leaving Florida and moving back to New York for a long while now. There was a lot to do physically to make it all happen and there was a great deal synthesize emotionally. Unlike, the rest of the entries I have posted here since this blog started, this post is not solely about my genealogy research.   September 27, 2024 Hurricane Helene caused our home to flood. We were lucky compared to our neighbors, we sustained minimal damage. But enough damage that we needed to evacuate, lost power and then were told by condo management we all needed to empty our condos and move for the 3-6 months repairs were underway. Of the 300 units in our development 296 of them were deemed uninhabitable by FEMA.  In the ten years I lived in Florida caring for my parents and working, I lived through five or so hurricanes, some big and scary, others minor. During each I worried about things.  I felt concern for our safety but knew I would do whatever I need...