Tell Your Story

What’s a photo without the story?

By Hazel Thornton | July 19, 2020 |

UPDATE #1: Mystery solved! (scroll down) UPDATE #2: I was so taken by my grandmother’s “bathing beauty” photograph that I used it on the cover of my 2021 book — What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy (click to learn more). The book is not about my family, per se,…

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Black Lives Matter in Genealogy Too

By Hazel Thornton | June 27, 2020 |

  I recently saw this example of white privilege: Ugh! That one really hit home.

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spanish flu victim

Our Ancestors and the 1918 Spanish Flu

By Hazel Thornton | April 1, 2020 |

  So… we’re all locked down, to various degrees, in a worldwide effort to help stop the spread of the novel COVID-19 Coronavirus. And everyone knows that this 2020 pandemic is the worst thing since the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. From Wikipedia: The Spanish flu was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic. Lasting from January 1918…

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What do you love about your office? Here’s what I love about mine.

By Hazel Thornton | February 12, 2020 |

I think the key to being productive is to be comfortable and happy spending time in your office. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a corporate cubicle; a dedicated room at home with a door that closes; or another space you’ve carved out for yourself. If you love your office, great! Carry on. If you don’t,…

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The End of an Era: RIP George

By Hazel Thornton | January 20, 2020 |

George was my constant companion for 17-1/2 years. Social media friends got to see a lot of him. He had his own Pinterest board. And a Facebook photo album. He died in December from multiple health conditions (OK, I had him euthanized, ugh!), and I miss him terribly. I know many pet owners who can…

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Org4life: The First 15 Years

By Hazel Thornton | January 5, 2020 |

Please join me in celebrating 15 years of helping clients to declutter, simplify, organize, and refresh their homes, offices, schedules, and lives…and helping them discover their roots and tell their family stories, too! And what’s an anniversary without gratitude, a few selected highlights, and a crossword puzzle?

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Thornton Farmstead: Home of the Iowa State Fair

By Hazel Thornton | August 13, 2019 |

I’ve never attended the Iowa State Fair. I gain weight just reading the 2019 Food On A Stick menu! But I did visit the fairgrounds a number of years ago on a genealogy research trip with my dad. Why? Because the land formerly belonged to my 2nd great-grandfather, Calvin Thornton. Prior to that, it belonged…

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Playing Detective: Grandma’s Birth Certificate

By Hazel Thornton | July 11, 2019 |

AHA! I was RIGHT! Right about what, you ask? Right about where my Grandma Hankins was born (Villa Mae Lawrence Hankins 1904-1986).

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Thornton Family Resemblances Revisited

By Hazel Thornton | June 10, 2019 |

I once wrote an article for APPO (Association of Professional Photo Organizers) called Who Do You Think You Look Like? The Mystery of Family Resemblances. It featured a small selection of photos from both sides of my family. This time, in honor of Father’s Day, I’ve gathered photos from six consecutive generations of Thornton fathers…

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Mom’s Boxes Part 8: The Gangster Hideout

By Hazel Thornton | May 23, 2019 |

READERS: This is the sort of story I intend to write more of over the next few years to share with my family. It’s also the sort of story I encourage you to write about your own family! It doesn’t have to be fancy, with links to articles and such. Just capture the memories for…

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