The Brennan family history book is with the designer and pretty much out of my hands at the moment. So I am keeping busy with other projects. One is immediate, one is long term.
The immediate project is preparing for my trip to France, coming up in just a few weeks. This trip will mostly be for fun, relaxation, and immersing myself in culture and shopping. However, there will be a few genealogical opportunities. One will happen just across the border from the Alsace Lorraine area of France, in Losheim am See, Germany. There I will meet with some distant cousins and see the town where my Schulien ancestors lived and built a small "castle." I have been in touch with the cousins and am really looking forward to seeing where my mother's maternal ancestors once lived and raised their families. I keep thinking how much my mother, were she still here, would love this. It's so sad that I can no longer share these things with her.
Another opportunity will happen in Nancy, in the Lorraine area of France, where a cousin Ralph Brennan, died during a battle in World War II. We will be meeting with a gentleman who is a local historian and caretaker of the WW II museum there. This would have meant a great deal to my dad and I am sad that I can't share this with him.
Finally, we will drive through the tiny village of Turpange in Belgium, where other ancestors of my mother (her father's Mueller ancestors) once lived. Each of these will give me opportunities to learn a great deal, visit with interesting people, and take plenty of pictures.
The long term project is the beginning of another family history book. This one will record the history of my paternal grandmother's family. Her name was Kathryn Shaw and she has an amazing family history that goes all the way back to the time of the earliest American colonies and before. One line can be traced back to the time of William the Conqueror (1066) in England. Others can be traced to the Puritans and Quakers in the American colonies.
In the meantime, I wait for the design to be completed on the Brennan book, so I can send it off to the printer, and then wait to see the finished product. I believe it will be worth the wait. I hope all my Brennan relatives agree.
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