In summer of 2016, I traveled with my Mom and her two cousins to Eastern Europe on a genealogical journey. We had used the world wide web and local sources to get as far as we could in our ancestry research (Mom had been investigating for 2 decades at that point), and the time had come to adventure to the lands of my great grandparents to dig deeper into their origins. We had incredible success exploring Slovakia and Croatia, experiencing things beyond our hopes for the trip; from finding the house that my great grandfather grew up in (we started that day only knowing his name, birthdate, and birthplace) to comparing ancestry records with the Mayor of Strba (who was a distant relative). The following spring, my mom and I traveled to western Pennsylvania to explore the other side of my great grandparents' stories—where they settled once they immigrated to the US. Through visits to libraries and city halls, chats with expert genealogists, and hours looking through microfilm, we located where John and Mary were buried side-by-side. Experiencing their stories full circle—walking the foreign land where they played as children to standing at their graves in Sagamore, PA—was thrilling, emotional, and grounding. It is certainly a privilege that we were able to take these trips and uncover more about our family history, but I greatly encourage anyone who's interested to start that exploration, which can be as simple as talking to a grandparent.

– Quincie

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more