My Portfolio

Recently, a friend forwarded a story to me about the 2005 rescue of a Humpback whale. The whale was spotted off the northern California coast, hopelessly tangled in crab trap lines that had begun to cut into her flesh. The divers who rescued her talked about how the 50-ton animal made...

Holidays in our home meant company, and the preparation of a table weighed with food.  Hours of preparation yielded a large mound of pasteles and a huge pot of arroz con gandules, in addition to a turkey and a roast pork shoulder, a stand-in for puerco asado, roast suckling pig. For...

Holiday traditions always include great food. Here are some of our family recipes. Your special meals will be remembered by your children and grandchildren. Remember to ask your parents and grandparents for their special recipes. As you publish your family delicacies try some of the recipes of other members. You may...

            Not all Christmases are “Tiny Tim,” “Santa Claus,” “Joy to The World” affairs.  Some are. .  .well . . . “different.”  This is the story of one of those.   It was December, 1987.  Anne and I were living in Lone Jack MO where I was the School Superintendent.   We were...

The Jacaranda trees are in full bloom here in Adelaide, South Australia as spring rushes into December and the start of summer. Last weekend, Santa arrived in Adelaide as the last float in the Adelaide Christmas Pageant, a tradition which has run annually for 79 years through the streets of the...

The Christmas I was seven,  I have nothing but happiest of memories about.  That year of all wonderful things we somehow got to be in Virginia on Christmas Eve.  Usually, we had to wait until at least Christmas Day to head out from Tennessee because of my dad's church commitment , but this year was different.  We were...

Let's Eat!! Holiday traditions always include great food. This week let's share some family recipes. Your special meals will be remembered by your children and grandchildren. Remember to ask your parents and grandparents for their special recipes. As you publish your family delicacies try some of the recipes of other members....

            By the time I married that Italian girl with the deep brown eyes, enticing figure, “girly-smelling” dark brunette hair and unusual, to me, last name of “DeNicolo,”  I knew I was marrying into an “ethnic” family that had many traditions whose roots were sunk deep in “Old World” antiquity.  I...

My father was tougher than nails and rarely sick but that was before lymphoma took over. He fought it bravely for a long time but cancer inevitably wins. We lived 200 miles from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and made many trips there while he was undergoing treatment. At times...

“Wolf!  Wolf!” I shrieked, slamming into the house as fast as my four year old legs could carry me. Knowing my penchant for fantasy, my older and wiser sister calmly went out to investigate.  From safely behind her, I could see the “wolf” curled up asleep inside my red wagon was...

Everyone is writing a Christmas story so I guess I will write one too. I turned eighteen years old in 1965 and signed up for the draft. I was a high school drop out and knew that if I got drafted they would stick me in the Infantry. It’s not that...

On a murky afternoon in late December, 2001 I landed my son's Mooney in Mena, Arkansas after completing a demanding flight from Gladewater, Texas.  The weather had been bad throughout the two-hour trip.  The solid blanket of dark clouds was never more than 2,500 feet above the ground.  I had flown into...

I received an e-mail from Tom Coumier this morning to see if I was alright. I guess I am alright sort of . Just hung up on my genealogy. That’s all.I tell my wife it’s like an hound dog on a trail . you can’t quit. When I started ,y genealogy...

George and I were a struggling young couple with five children under the age of four and a half. Our third birth had been twins. Christmas was fast approaching and money was tight. We especially loved this Holiday. I was concerned about not having money  to buy the little ones toys. Unknown to me,...

We always had a live Christmas tree.  There were no farms near by to cut your own so my dad purchased one at a lot.  It always had to be a spruce and perfect in shape!  Once he cut an extra bough off and attached it some place else on the...

     If I could talk I could tell you about so many holidays and other family get-togethers.  I have seen generations gather around me and then disappear to be replaced by a newer generation.  But I’m only a table.  A handsome table to be sure, and believe me I remember a...

Wow - this one is a tough one for me.  It truly is.  Given my passion for genealogy and the amount of research I have done it would be a dream come true for me to be able to talk to my ancestors.  What I wouldn't give to be able to...

Holiday traditions.... that involved my Mom who is no longer there to continue them with me. So my favorite tradition has ended.  Mom and I were sorority sisters - Pi Beta Phi's.  Our mascot is the angel.  So every Christmas since I joined in 1987 and was initiated we gave each...

Milton L. Adams, Pfc; Army Ser. # 39026959; Company C, 323 Infantry, 81st Wildcat Division WWII: Written by Golden V. Adams Jr. on Veteran's Day (50th Anniversary), 11 Nov 1995 at Provo, Utah. Milton LaVar Adams was born 9 May 1910 in East Garland, Box Elder County, Utah to William Albert...

Dutch Traditional Christmas - While serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in The Netherlands, 1963-1965, I first became acquainted with the Dutch Christmas Tradition of children anxiously looking forward to St. Nicholas Eve on December 5th.  I was serving in Apeldoorn and had recently been...