Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 230

Have you thought about telling the story of your personal history? Most of us at some point have, But let’s be honest: continuing the genealogical research of our ancestors probably seemed more appealing, and frankly, it’s probably easier than sitting down and figuring out how to capture our own story. I’ve spoken to a lot of genealogists through the years, and I often hear comments like “ah, my story isn’t all that interesting or important.” But nothing could be farther from the truth. When we don’t tell our own story, we not only take a big risk that the memory of our life will be lost down the generations, but we rob our family and our community of an important piece of THEIR history. Karen Dustman is the author of the book Writing a Memoir, from Stuck to Finished! She’s been helping folks capture and record their stories for several years in her community in the Sierra Nevada which spans Central and Eastern California, into Western Nevada. She’s known widely there as a local historian, writing on her blog and in the local newspaper about the history of the area.   Karen’s Book !   It was Karen’s story of the history of not a family, but an old house in the Carson Valley that shed light on the fact that one of its’ inhabitants was at risk of being forgotten. And no one wants to be forgotten.  In this episode we’re going to explore the life and death of 10 year old Roy Thran. How his story tentatively made its way through the generations of the family in one simple box to the hands of his great grand-niece Krista Jenkins. It was Krista who connected the all-important dots eventually culminating in a museum exhibit that is now telling an important part of the Carson Valley history and touching the lives of its residents. In this episode we travel back to 1925, to a sparsely populated ranching community to hear the story of Roy Thran, and how it’s being shared today. My hope is that Roy’s story will transform your thinking about sharing your own story. Get the full show notes: to visit the show notes page at the Genealogy Gems website where you can read the entire story complete with photos and documents referred to in this episode. Here's a wonderful and easy way to tell your story: For 20 DOLLARS off, visit  when you subscribe!