Katie Heitert Wilkinson's Blog – September 2009 Archive (2)

One of the most precious things my grandmother Mary Browne Kearney left behind was a special box, one she kept her entire adult life. I remember seeing it from time to time when Kearney lived with us. Typically she would have the box open on her bed, either adding items or reviewing its existing contents.



It was a sad looking thing - an old, dented safety deposit box of military khaki green. A collection of dings and dents accumulated over the years had taken on a rusty hue, and the… Continue

I wanted to reflect today on just how far I've come in researching my maternal family history. For years, when I was a child, I plied my grandmother with questions about her family and about Ireland. Being Irish, really Irish, was a great source of pride among my siblings and I. For some reason, none of us ever called her Gram or Grandma. Rather we referred to her as Kearney, her married name. Doing so didn't seem disrespectful at all. In fact, Kearney referred to herself in the same… Continue