When I was 8 years old I found out that my grandmother was adopted. I was fascinated and wanted to find out what her name "really" was and who gave her away. I just didn't know how to go about it.

After graduating from college (Fire Up Chips!), I moved to the Washington, DC area for my job and eventually took up genealogy. Fortunately, it was a cheap hobby for a much-taken-advantage-of-not-paid-well hotel intern. It didn't cost much to take the metro into DC and spend the day in the National Archives.

I'm back in Michigan now and after 30 years of wandering through cemeteries, going through court records, ordering birth and death certificates, reading hundreds upon hundreds of obituaries, and questioning relatives...I am no closer to finding my grandmother's parents than when I was 8 years old.

But now I'm able to share all the photos I've taken over the years!

Grandma passed away in 1999 without knowing the answer to this mystery and she was fine with it. She adored her parents and saw no reason to find her other family.

I'm still optimistic.

When I was 8 years old I found out that my grandmother was adopted. I was fascinated and wanted to find out what her name "really" was and who gave her away. I just didn't know how to go about it.

After graduating from college (Fire Up Chips!), I moved to the Washington, DC area for my job and eventually took up genealogy. Fortunately, it was a cheap hobby for a much-taken-advantage-of-not-paid-well hotel intern. It didn't cost much to take the metro into DC and spend the day in the National Archives.

I'm back in Michigan now and after 30 years of wandering through cemeteries, going through court records, ordering birth and death certificates, reading hundreds upon hundreds of obituaries, and questioning relatives...I am no closer to finding my grandmother's parents than when I was 8 years old.

But now I'm able to share all the photos I've taken over the years!

Grandma passed away in 1999 without knowing the answer to this mystery and she was fine with it. She adored her parents and saw no reason to find her other family.

I'm still optimistic.