Kerosene Scrub down

Historical/Generational trauma are terms we often hear linked to government boarding schools that were designed to assimilate Native American children to our European immigrant culture.  While researching a project I’m working on, the term “kerosene bath” popped up several times. An example, “[Native] Children were … cleansed with alcohol, kerosene, and synthetic pesticides.” From https://www.midwesternstoriesbsu.com/people …

Book giveaway: “BARBARA, Uncharted Course Through Borderline Personality Disorder.”

From Amber Heard to Disney’s “Moon Knight,” personality disorders have suddenly become part of public conversation. This was not the case when I first started researching and writing about BPD over a decade ago. For me, interest in this subject was not fueled by Hollywood or celebrity gossip. It was personal.

My New-Found Family Visits Minnesota

My new-found brother, Louis and his wife Patty recently spent time with us her in the Bemidji area. It was a wonderful week not to be forgotten. Visit these links for a great interview Dennis Doeden with the Bemidji Pioneer did: https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/4699087-Finding-his-roots-Bemidji-man-connects-with-half-siblings-through-DNA-testing Malaak Khattab a reporter with Lakeland PBS did a wonderful job interviewing us. …

Meeting My New Family

Our host family: Patty and Louis at each end; daughter, Elizabeth Rose, Laurel, daughter Camille, and Wendell Back row: Janine, Laurel, Louis, David, Wendell, Laurie Jean. Middle row: Janine’s husband David, Ginger and Larry Grignon and their grandchildren. Three new brothers and baby sister—left to right: Louis, Guy, Wendell, Yvonne, Michael. (I met Larry later …

NEW RELEASE: CHICKENHOUSE CHRONICLES, BOOK II, “PAWNS”

A few years before my mother died I began interviewing her and making notes. After her death in January 2010 I discovered a treasure trove; 200 years of our family history locked in the chickenhouse—about seventy feet from where we had visited in the old farmhouse. Over the next eight years I studied and catalogued …