I’m Back!

It’s been a long time. What happened in January of 2024, or 2024 in general, and what does that mean going ahead?

TLDR: Perfection caused some blogging setbacks. The death of my mother created a momentary pause. We have had a few changes and pivots. I am excited to be back in the world of genealogy. Please read on. You can see what we went through. Discover what we have in store for the future, including adding dual citizenship to our list of services provided!

2024 was an interesting year. I had decided I wanted to complete the weekly prompts. Amy Johnson Crow organizes these prompts for her annual 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge. However, it wasn’t enough to just write my answer to the prompts. I wanted them to be perfect. Which meant I wanted to research the answers, correctly cite, and then post them. My mother had a quiet stroke in January. That was a record scratch. But I decided to keep plodding along. One of the research prompts included a detail about my mom that I wanted to share. It required phone calls and further research. The person needed to get back to me. Then, a week became two, and the prompt was no longer the weekly prompt. In the end, the person at the country club got back to me. They confirmed that my mother’s family held a membership at the club. The family of Greg Jarvis, from the 1986 Challenger, also has a membership there. Their memberships did overlap. It helped solidify the story that my mother had dated the younger Jarvis son, Stephen. My family would have also known their family. 

Being a perfectionist, I didn’t want to write it up and post it. It was “too late.” So, I tucked it away into the back of my mind. Every time I logged in, seeing that I hadn’t posted the story made me feel guilt. Eventually I pivoted away from posting blogs and busied myself, genealogically, elsewhere.

I completed two DAR supplemental applications and submitted them in April. I helped my youngest join the DAR as a Junior member. I completed at least one more DAR educational class and started volunteering as part of the State Application Team.

In July my mom fell and succumbed to complications from that fall. The one person who would listen to every family story I had was gone. I struggled for the rest of the year, through birthdays and holidays, to get my feet back under me. 

Last year my partner and I decided to cut ties with our landlord and move to a neighboring town. I signed up for three different SLIG (Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy) week-long classes and two more DAR educational classes. Halfway into the year, I realized that all four of my children qualified for Canadian citizenship. My two grandchildren also qualified. This was possible on my exes’ sides of the family. I started the process of getting them dual citizenship. We are awaiting the approval of those six applications. I know the acceptance can take between nine months and a year. We have been waiting about 6 months, depending on which application we are discussing. 

Upon submitting the Canadian citizenship applications, I learned that my kids and grandchildren are all eligible for Hungarian simplified naturalization. I am also eligible. My youngest is eligible for Polish citizenship on her father’s side. Hungarian Simplified Naturalization will require our learning Hungarian as well as proving we have a Hungarian in our ancestry.

2026 is going to be a busy genealogical year. I hope to submit this post to the blog as a very lengthy catch-up. Then, I aim to keep you all aware of what we are up to as the year goes by. The blog may not be as polished as I my perfectionism would like. I plan to share something and we can have a discussion about it.

My personal genealogical plan for 2026 is to sign up for Hungarian language lessons. I want to move forward in an attempt to gain dual citizenship for myself. My youngest will be joining me in this adventure. I hope to include the two minor grandchildren in the application process as well. I am considering the MSc Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies program at Strathclyde. Pursuing this part-time would take 2.5-3 years instead of the full-time 18-months, either way it would start in the autumn. Additionally, I plan to work towards an Accredited Genealogist credential in 2027 but it may bump to 2028. Every year, I intend to submit 3-4 DAR supplemental applications. We are allowed 6 applications in process at one time. The applications average 18-24 months “in-process” before they are completed. I have twelve known DAR Patriots outside of the two I submitted in 2024. I also have the first Patriot that I joined the DAR under in 2017.

Professionally, I look forward to helping others through the services I provide. Helping others join lineage societies, gain additional citizenship, or researching their ancestors brings me joy. Please reach out to me if you are interested in learning more.

Photograph: My mom (Deborah, 1950-2024) and me during an impromptu visit, July 2023, to her condo in Boca Raton, Florida. Behind us is the beach on which she loved to walk.