Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

  FEBRUARY 10, 2021 This week’s post took a surprising turn! Initially, I had planned to completely scrap the idea of the traditional blog about Valentine’s Day, and instead write about a very young bride in my dad’s family tree. However, in the spur of the moment, I pulled a 180 and decided to go on a hunt through my family photo albums for an old valentine card. Week 6: Valentine I only had to open 2 albums before I spotted what I thought had to be a collection of valentine greeting cards. Photos of greeting cards, 2021, in personal possession of Kira D. Foltz. With all those hearts, you’d think so, anyway! But no. Turns out they were all cards written to my grandparents from my sister and me, most addressed on Grandparents’ Day and Mother’s Day. I almost moved on, still in search for a valentine. But the nostalgic part of me needed to see what the cards contained, as I’d probably eventually toss them out. Perhaps it was destiny or maybe just a coincidence, but when I opened up t...

  JANUARY 31, 2021 Anyone that knows me, knows that you will rarely find me anywhere near the kitchen, except maybe during this pandemic, in which I’m practically forced to cook for myself out of necessity. It’s not that I’m a horrible cook, it’s really just the fact that I have absolutely no interest in the act of cooking or baking. Also, my least favorite thing is cleaning dishes, and those just stack up when you cook, so my solution is don’t cook. I also detest the fact that women are just assumed to be the default domestics of the family, but that’s an argument for another day. Week 5: In the Kitchen There were, however, some folks in my tree who gravitated toward the kitchen and left a breadcrumb trail of their activities in that room.  Photograph of Edna Arlene (Dean) Millhouse in the dining room off of the kitchen, 1 Jan 1984, Hawthorne, California, photo in possession of granddaughter Kira D. Foltz. My maternal grandmother, Edna Arlene (Dean) Millhouse, had a tradition...