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Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:07 am Post subject: "My Genealogical Quest" our new blog by Mike

"This trip is centered around my ongoing genealogical research. We will be visiting villages where my ancestors once lived, churches where they worshiped, and cemeteries where generations of family members are buried. Of course we will do some site seeing, but we’ll also visit cold, dusty archives in order to research my family history in centuries old books and visit with distant relatives who I have connected with..."

Read the first part of Mike's blog: My Genealogical Quest: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/09/my-genealogical-quest-part-1-in-the-beginning/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:37 am Post subject:

Mike and Amy landed in Poland. See how their Genealogy Tour started!

"What a moment! After years of research on my part and a series of uncanny coincidences this morning, we were talking to family members that had been lost exactly 100 years ago when my great grandfather left Poland for the United States in 1913. The way that this morning played out gives me the feeling that we are not working on simple coincidences
however. This feels like much more than something simply serendipitous..."

Read the whole story on our blog:http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/16/my-genealogical-quest-october-19th-2013-morning/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:56 am Post subject:

My Genealogical Quest. The Afternoon of October 19th…

"We searched page after page of this book, and had no luck. The priest seemed to be looking more and more displeased with us. All I could think about was that I had selected the wrong Odrykoń. How disappointing! Suddenly, a sound I understood and welcomed: “Tak, tak, tak!” My heart jumped..."

Read the whole story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/17/my-genealogical-quest-the-afternoon-of-october-19th/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:35 am Post subject:

"My Genealogical Quest. Sunday, October 20th"

"By now, I assumed that these people were mother and son. We were invited into their living room and she and Zenon began throwing names around. I am sure that he was trying to show her the information we had found to see if they were, in fact, related. She didn’t appear to be very convinced by our story until Zenon pulled out his notebook and began sketching her own tree back to Maria Danek, her great-grandmother. At that point a big smile came across her face and her son, too, began laughing..."

Read the whole story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/18/my-genealogical-quest-sunday-october-20th/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:29 am Post subject:

"My Genealogical Quest. Monday Morning and Glad I’m Not at Work"

"The priest looked at a sheet of paper listing the dates of the records that are kept in this office. Going over to a small cabinet, he opened the doors and revealed two shelves lined with record books. With a quick glance, I noticed dates into the 1700′s. We were first searching for my great-great grandmother, Katarzyna Ozga. Because the records available online were incomplete, I had been unable to confirm her birth date. All I had was 1884. Again, we searched and searched through 1884, 1885, 1886, no luck. We began to go backwards: 1883, no luck. Into 1882, we struck gold again!"

Read the whole story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/19/my-genealogical-quest-monday-morning-and-glad-im-not-at-work/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:01 am Post subject:

"My Genealogical Quest. Tuesday and the Race is On!"

Amy and Mike have met another relatives from Poland:

"Through our guide, we were able to discuss our families, occupations, exchange family stories, and discuss the plans for the day. Wojtek told us that he planned to bring us to the local cemetery where relatives were buried, followed by a visit to his parents’ house in Kopczany, show us the Poland/Belarus border (since he is a border guard), and bring us to the Pisanka museum (for which Lipsk is world famous). His wife’s aunt and cousin, Barbara, were Pisanka makers and Barbara would be able to give us a guided tour of the museum..."

Read the whole story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/20/my-genealogical-quest-tuesday-and-the-race-is-on/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:15 am Post subject: "My Genealogical Quest" new blog by Mike

"My Genealogical Quest. Into Lithuania We Go!"

Amy and Mike left Poland and they started their genealogical quest in Lithuania:

"We gathered our things and set out to Vabaliai where I had found ancestors and where our guide had arranged for a meeting with them. I was so excited to be traveling to my ancestors’ village, but on the way, I noticed a few things about Lithuania that were strikingly different than Poland..."

Read the whole story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/23/my-genealogical-quest-into-lithuania-we-go/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:59 am Post subject: "My Genealogical Quest" our new blog by Mike Masla

We continue publishing Mike's story on our blog: "Thursday, October 24th (only two more days left)"

"On Thursday, we had only two items on our to-do list. First we would go to Kalvarija where I suspect one part of Amy’s family is from. We would visit the local church and ask around for any leads about the family name: Jeseliunas. Second, we would go into the “Old Town” of Kaunas and meet a friend of mine for lunch..."

Read the whole story here: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/27/my-genealogical-quest-thursday-october-24th-only-two-more-days-left/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:03 am Post subject: "My Genealogical Quest" new blog by Mike

"My Genealogical Quest. This Is It…"

"As we rode in the back of a car of two people who we have not known for no more than a couple hours, I couldn’t help but think that this was a little sketchy and perhaps the plot of some sort of travel horror story. After spending time with the Maslauskas family the other day, we put all our trust in them. As we weaved in and out of towns and traffic, Amy and I had no idea where they were actually taking us!..."

Read the whole story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/30/my-genealogical-quest-this-is-it/

Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team

Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland
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Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:21 am Post subject: "My Genealogical Quest" - ending

Today we have published the last part of Amy and Mike's blog. It is a perfect ending for this 2013 year! For us and our guests it was full of amazing meetings, stories and family discoveries! (of which this blog is a perfect example).

We hope that in the New Year 2014 we will all have even more of such stories together!

"My Genealogical Quest. What Comes Next?"

"Last Thursday Amy and I hopped on a plane to Poland not sure what we could expect. With no expectations or preconceived visions of what might happen, we left ourselves completely open to whatever might come our way during this adventure.

I never could have expected to find so many relatives, make so many friends, and find so much information. I can only imagine what might come from this experience in the coming days, months, and years as I correspond with these people and continue to share information and stories. I’m so happy that we took this trip rather than continuing to say “I hope to go to Poland/Lithuania in…...” My unsolicited advice, in the words of Nike, “Just Do It!” ..."

http://blog.polishorigins.com/2013/12/31/my-genealogical-quest-what-comes-next/

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