Hazel Thornton

10 FREE Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors

By Hazel Thornton | February 7, 2022 |

I know a lot of authors! And I know even more readers! Naturally we’d all like you to buy our books. But even if you can’t — and we’re so grateful if you have! — there are lots of no-cost ways to support your favorite authors. (And, author friends, there are a few tips in…

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The Best Laid Plans

By Hazel Thornton | February 2, 2022 |

I called 911 for myself the other night. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. An introvert’s worst nightmare! Am I really having a heart attack? In which case it would be stupid to not call. Or is it “just” heartburn — which can sometimes feel like a heart attack…

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Odds Are We’re Gonna Be Alright

By Hazel Thornton | January 9, 2022 |

                    I heard this song recently. Yes, it’s old, but it was new to me. And it gave me hope. The song is “Odds Are” by Barenaked Ladies.

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Introverts

Celebrating Introverts (and organizing them)

By Hazel Thornton | January 2, 2022 |

In honor of World Introvert Day (Jan 2), and January being NAPO’s Get Organized & Be Productive (GO) Month, I’m organizing all my introverted blog posts here in one place for you. Why are we celebrating introverts? Here’s an easy-to-read, not-very-long Psychology Today article I like about that: 12 Reasons to Celebrate Introverts. Take a…

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Luminarias at the Cemetery

By Hazel Thornton | December 20, 2021 |

(This story originally appeared in a Facebook Note on December 24, 2012.) Luminarias are a New Mexican Christmas Eve tradition with religious origins. (Scroll down to learn more.) They are also one of my favorite family holiday traditions. But… in the cemetery? Let me explain.        

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Gifts for Genealogists and their Families

By Hazel Thornton | November 22, 2021 |

Someone asked me for a list of gifts for family historians. They had in mind gadgets and other tangible things you could wrap up with a bow. But I thought, “Most of the things I want don’t cost money and can’t be wrapped.”

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Mom’s Boxes Part 9: Mom’s Good Silverware

By Hazel Thornton | October 25, 2021 |

UPDATE: Mystery solved! (scroll down) What do you think happened when I offered my mom’s good silverware to my niece, Vinca, as a wedding present? One never knows what will happen when you pass a family keepsake on to the next generation. Will they love it? Or, not so much? There’s only one way to…

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Talking about death won’t kill you, LOL!

By Hazel Thornton | October 18, 2021 |

(Originally published Jan. 2016. Updated Oct. 2021.) I recently (in Jan. 2016) spoke at a business networking luncheon attended by 80 women. My topic was “Who Will Check My Email When I Die?” I worried that no one would want to come hear me talking about death, especially when it started snowing that morning. But…

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“We Remember” our loved ones

By Hazel Thornton | October 3, 2021 |

This post is about how to use the free, interactive, social, memorial platform We Remember, by Ancestry. So, my dad died recently. It was somewhat unexpected — I mean, he wasn’t in the best of health at age 88, but he was in remission from lymphoma. And I can only hope to go as peacefully…

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If you can’t find something, clean up!

By Hazel Thornton | September 27, 2021 |

I thought this phrase — If you can’t find something, clean up — was a well-known adage. But random people I’ve queried have never heard it. So, I Googled it. Turns out it’s one of Gretchen Rubin’s many Secrets of Adulthood, which she introduced in her bestselling book The Happiness Project. I guess it made…

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