Family History

My Cyber Book Tour Begins Today!

by Shawn December 5, 2011

All week I’m taking this show on the road. Some of my favorite bloggers have agreed to help me promote my new book, My Amish Roots, by either hosting a guest post, a question and answer session, or reviewing the book. Here are today’s links:

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Frederick Fair, Day Two: My Grandfather’s Ghost

by Shawn September 16, 2011

If someone guaranteed that my grandfather’s ghost had decided to hang around this smug little planet, but they wouldn’t tell me where, the Frederick Fair is the first place I would look. Everything I see around here reminds me of him: the tables he built that we still use; his sloppy handwriting on the outside [...]

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How My Grandma Tried to Reclaim the Washer I Bought at Her Sale

by Shawn September 10, 2011

Hidden somewhere in the sheets and pillowcases we purchased at my grandmother’s sale, a note from her: Kind friend – before you wash these pillow cases, please soak them in cold water to which you have added 2 or 3 tablespoons of table salt for a few hours or the color will all run together. [...]

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These Are My Projects – What Are You Up To?

by Shawn September 8, 2011

Recently I’ve had a few people ask me what I’ve been up to since moving back to Pennsylvania. I wrote a lot about the circumstances that brought us back here, and I explained that I was going to try to write for a living, but I kind of ended it at that. Well, here are [...]

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Watching Someone’s Life Get Sold Out From Under Them

by Shawn August 23, 2011

We parked illegally along a yellow curb in the school parking lot, just up the street from my grandmother’s single-story home. My kids poured out of the van like four puppies, dashing across the street while our warnings rained down on them. “Watch out for cars!” “Somebody hold Sammy’s hand!” Seems like just about everyone [...]

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An Excerpt From “My Amish Roots” (my family history book)

by Shawn August 17, 2011

Grandma sat down on one of the patio chairs. We all lounged out there and talked, told old stories about grandpa. We talked about his affinity for ridiculously wild dogs and brown vans and how he wore his hat cockeyed on his head. We remembered how wild he was. When I went with him on [...]

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My First Bicycle, or The Ugly Brown Bike Meets the Thorn Bush

by Shawn August 8, 2011

The little boy sat by the window, staring through the dusty screen. Flies twitched up against the mesh, their jerky flight eventually finding a way through. The boy lifted the fly swatter slowly. He was a ninja, or perhaps The Karate Kid. Wax on, wax off. Smack. Another dead fly. Another penny. Then he went [...]

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