Featured Family Stories

08
May

What is your most prized family photo?

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This guy would’ve celebrated his birthday this weekend. . This tintype of my grandad has been around for almost 131 years now. It’s been one of my dad’s prized possessions ever since I can remember. . My dad treasures this tintype of his father; the original is carefully tucked away in his valet. I remember […]

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05
May

My Father’s Childhood Photos of Me Inspired my Career

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I still make the same face. . Photo by Papa, Eugene Kolomatsky. . My dad is a wonderful photographer and he’s still doing it at 84. I’m grateful to have many cool images from my childhood, like this one. . These photos have helped keep my family memories alive and have also served to inspire […]

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01
May

True Stories are Always the Scariest

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My dad always loved to spook me and my siblings with a scary story. And the true stories were always the scariest. The story that always gave us a thrill was when he was stung by hornets. Yikes. Last year, while scanning images from our family cabin in Mendocino county, I came across a picture […]

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27
Apr

Meet my Grandfather George as a Newsboy in the 1920s

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It’s a stereotype that Italian mothers are very protective of their sons, and for my grandfather, it was true. My grandfather George is the third from the right, posing with his newsboy buddies in 1924. George was the youngest of my great grandmother’s four boys and was her favorite. She always dreamed of a beautiful […]

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25
Apr

The Most Remarkable People I Have Ever Met are My Parents

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This is Russ and Linda in 1966. They are my parents. My mom and dad were married in Los Angeles the DAY after they graduated CSUN. They met, got engaged, married, and graduated college in under 6 months! And they are still married, surviving my dad going to Vietnam, 4 kids, many pets, earthquakes, and […]

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22
Apr

Does Your Family Have Hidden Stories?

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My Dad (left) and his brothers in Kentucky, circa 1954. Here my father was visiting his family in rural Kentucky. At this time, he already had two children of his own. Eventually, he would have five sons. I was second oldest. I like this picture because of the casualness and authenticity of the young men. […]

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09
Apr

10 Simple Questions You Should Ask Your Grandparents Before It’s Too Late

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My grandfather’s smile was the kind that always spread from ear to ear. He was a storyteller, my favorite storyteller. But I didn’t ask enough questions. You can never ask too many. If you need help with questions, here are 10 you should ask: 1. What is your full name and when and where were […]

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04
Apr

An Ambitious Woman Who Paved the Way for My Family

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My great-aunt Anna, pictured here with her brother Karl (my great-grandpa), was probably one of the most ambitious members of my family. She was born in 1884 in Estonia as the eldest of 3 siblings. She went on to become a pioneer in healthcare. She trained to become a nurse and then worked as a […]

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03
Apr

Why Everyone Should Have a Kindred Spirit in their Family

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This is my grandmother, Anna, in France. A year ago, I lost her, and I was standing in my kitchen when my heart broke so wildly and completely that I thought I was dying too. Grief…what a spectacular haunting. And while my heart is still bruised, I am telling myself over and over, that she […]

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31
Mar

A Remarkable Family Archive Reveals a Love of Wilderness and Adventure

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My grandparents were adventurous spirits. Their best times were spent in the high country of the Pacific Northwest. Shown here, my grandmother Mary Pearson, stands in the majestic Cascades of Washington. At 20 years old, she was wise and passionate. She absorbed the stillness and cool mountain air, photographed by her newlywed husband (my grandfather) […]

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