🎵 When Jen Iverson said "What I wouldn't give to hear Grandpa's music again," she had no idea what she was about to discover just two days later. Join me as Jen Iverson, a Gen X mom and passionate family historian, shares an incredible story of musical discovery that transformed her family's connection to their Idaho heritage. We explore her great-grandfather Arnold Steed's forgotten legacy in Pocatello and how one unexpected find in a nursing home room became the bridge connecting four generations of her family. From migratory beekeeping adventures to multi-generational traditions at Island Park, Jen reveals how music became a powerful time machine to her ancestors' hearts. You'll hear why sometimes our most precious family treasures are hiding in the most unexpected places, just waiting to remind us of the voices we thought we'd lost forever. 

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🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When Michelle Ercanbrack volunteered for a Mormon pioneer trek, she thought she'd be helping teenagers learn history. What she discovered instead was a missing piece of her own family story that had been hiding in plain sight for decades.

Michelle, a BYU family history program graduate and former Ancestry researcher who worked on television shows like "Who Do You Think You Are," joins me to share how sometimes the most meaningful genealogical discoveries happen not behind a computer screen, but when you physically stand where your ancestors once stood. Her emotional experience retracing her ancestor’s journey through the Wyoming wilderness to Utah reveals why knowing the facts of a story and truly understanding its impact are two completely different things.

Her ancestor, Mary Ann Malley, was a widowed single mother facing impossible choices and learning more about her life led Michelle to understand that even professional genealogists can overlook the most meaningful connections in their own family trees. Her story challenges every family historian to ask a simple but powerful question: What happens when you stop researching your ancestors’ lives and start walking where they walked?

This episode will leave you questioning whether you truly know your family's stories or if you're ready to discover what you've been missing.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When Stephen Torres's grandfather told him "one of your forefathers was the first European to set foot on New World soil," young Stephen was skeptical—until his college history research revealed a truth that changed everything.

Stephen shares what it means to have 400 years of unbroken family history in New Mexico's Taos Valley. From growing up with 50+ cousins to living with his storytelling grandfather, Stephen's family represents something rare: deep, unshakeable roots in one place. When genealogical research through Catholic Church records revealed remarkable connections to pivotal moments in American history, Stephen discovered his grandfather's stories held more truth than he'd ever imagined.

This is a story about the power of place, cultural continuity, and what happens when family roots run so deep they become inseparable from the very soil of home.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When Lisa Louise Cooke walked into her estranged grandmother's house in Arizona, she had no idea she was about to discover the key to healing a decades-old family rift. Lisa Louise, host of the long-running Genealogy Gems podcast, shares how following an unexpected inner voice led to finding a hidden quilt that would transform her relationship with her father forever. After years of separation following her parents' messy divorces, a mysterious feeling in her grandmother's bedroom guided Lisa Louise to uncover not just a family heirloom, but a handwritten note that became the bridge to reconciliation. This powerful story reveals how our ancestors sometimes speak to us through the most unexpected discoveries, and how listening to those quiet promptings can heal wounds we thought were permanent. Whether you're dealing with family divisions or simply wondering how the past can inform the present, Lisa Louise's journey from disconnection to deep relationship will remind you that it's never too late for healing when we're willing to trust our instincts and follow the voice that guides us home.

Learn more about Lisa Louise and Genealogy Gems here:
https://lisalouisecooke.com/ 

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

🏔️ When Jay Marquiss sat down for breakfast at a Southern Utah ranch house, he had no idea a casual conversation would unlock a 130-year-old family mystery.

Jay Marquiss, a third-generation Alaskan, grew up expecting to spend his entire life in the Last Frontier. But when his wife experienced her first Alaskan winter, their plans changed forever. Now living in Utah, Jay thought he'd left Alaska behind until an unexpected encounter with a former missionary revealed an incredible connection that had been hiding in plain sight for decades.

In this episode, you'll discover how Jay's family tradition became something much more significant than anyone imagined. From gold rush miners to modern-day missionaries, this story demonstrates how the most precious family legacies often travel in the most unexpected ways. Jay shares how he's transformed this discovery into meaningful connections with his children, grandchildren, and dozens of young people, creating new traditions that honor both past and present.

Through tales of Alaska's wilderness, family adventures, and serendipitous encounters, you'll see how sometimes our most treasured family heirlooms aren't stored in attics. They're living pieces of history that continue to grow and connect hearts across generations.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

What happens when cultures collide and choose connection instead of conflict?

To launch our America 250 series and Season 2 of the podcast, I sit down with Mike Daniels — former mayor of Pleasant Grove, Utah and a dear colleague from our early days at Ancestry — to explore his family’s extraordinary journey to and through Hawaii. From war and immigration to love, loss, and discovery, Mike shares how his family’s story became a living example of what it means to build unity through difference.

“It is a melting pot, and it's really possible for people to live together in peace.”

Along the way, we talk about picture brides, holiday feasts with 50+ cousins, and a name change that reshaped an identity. This heartfelt conversation about belonging, resilience, and multicultural legacy reminds us how place becomes a character in our family stories—shaping not just where we come from, but who we become.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

What if the story of America isn't just in history books, but living right now in your family tree? As we approach America's 250th birthday in 2026, I'm taking you on an extraordinary journey across all 50 states through the intimate family stories that shaped our nation. Starting in July 2025, Season 2 of Stories That Live In Us will reveal how your ancestors' choices and experiences are still echoing through your family today.

Over 50 weeks, we'll travel from Hawaii to Alaska, Arizona to Oklahoma, following each state's admission to the union in reverse order. You'll discover tales of immigration, migration, courage, and community. These moments of resilience that defined entire families and continue to influence generations. These aren't stories about famous names and places; they're about real families whose experiences show us that American history lives in our DNA, our traditions, and our family trees.

Whether you're a longtime listener or just discovering the transformational power of family storytelling, this season will inspire you to see your own family history with fresh eyes. Because every family tree holds stories connected to places and times that can fuel your imagination, inspire your resilience, and deepen your family connections.

Join me as we discover, from sea to shining sea, the stories that live in us—and learn how your family's journey is beautifully woven into the larger American story.

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🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

🛏😴 What if you found out that the bedtime stories you were told as a kid were really true?

When Hopwood DePree finally traced his unusual first name to its origins, he discovered something extraordinary: a 600-year-old ancestral estate in England that had been waiting centuries for him to find it. When Hopwood, author of "Downton Shabby," began exploring the childhood stories he dismissed as fairy tales, it led to the adventure of a lifetime. From growing up in Michigan, embarrassed by his name to dedicating his life to restoring Hopwood Hall Estate in Middleton, England, his journey reveals how our ancestors' stories can literally reshape our entire lives. You'll hear about secret priest holes, hidden tabernacles, and the moment he realized his grandfather's "bedtime stories" about a castle were actually family history waiting to be reclaimed.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

🌍 After decades of dead ends and false leads, one $27 payment to a county archive changed everything for Diana O'Connor. She didn’t just get a record. She got a photograph that made her weep with recognition.

Diana grew up knowing almost nothing about her family history. Her father was placed in foster care at two years old when his mother died. He then died tragically young and Diana’s own mother’s death followed a short eight years later. With virtually no family stories, no extended relatives, and no sense of her roots but armed with a single legal document and unshakeable curiosity, she embarked on a journey that would transform her from a woman with no family connections into someone discovering an abundance of Irish cousins and ancestral homes.

Diana shares the emotional highs and lows of researching her Irish heritage, discovering orphanage records, connecting with cousins across continents, and finally standing in the cemeteries of County Tyrone and County Mayo where her ancestors are buried.

This episode is a heartfelt reminder that even the smallest clues can lead to life-changing discoveries. And that it’s never too late to find your people.

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🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

🎂 What do cake and cemeteries have to do with one another? Maybe not much but both have quite a bit to do with family history.

Betheny Tomseth, known on Instagram as @BethenyCakes, takes us on a journey through her family’s complex history. From the mysterious circumstances surrounding her great-grandfather Omer's hunting accident in 1921 to the Scottish immigrant family she discovered buried together in an Ogden cemetery. We explore how a 140-year-old cake recipe connects generations of women who understood that food brings families together.

As the middle child in a family of 14, Betheny shares how her great-aunt Edith's stories about a grandmother who died in childbirth became family treasures, and how her genealogist sister Rebecca's Christmas gift may be the most meaningful one she’s ever received. Our conversation celebrates the beautiful ways our ancestors continue to gather us together.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When Aimee Cross discovered her French ancestor's will in a 1904 newspaper, she found something more precious than gold - a grandmother's heartfelt advice to her children. Professional genealogist Aimee Cross joins me to share how her second great-grandmother Estelle Dumont left behind more than an estate. She left a legacy of wisdom that continues to shape her family today. From Pierre Dumont's journey from France to the goldfields of California, to Estelle's courageous choice to run a business as a widowed mother in 1897 San Francisco, this story reveals how family wisdom survives even when original documents don't. Discover how one woman's deathbed counsel speaks directly to today's grandmothers and learn why the most powerful family stories often hide in the most unexpected records.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

Linda felt there was "something special" in her dad's family but couldn't get answers. She never imagined a single phone call would connect her to relatives she'd never met and a Civil War-era ancestor whose story would change how she celebrates Juneteenth forever.

In this deeply moving episode, I sit down with Linda Epps Parker, whose connection to the Hawkins Wilson documentary reveals the extraordinary power of genealogy to heal generational separation. Linda shares her journey from growing up with unanswered questions about her father's Southern roots to discovering her relationship to Hawkins Wilson, the formerly enslaved man whose 1877 letter became the centerpiece of an award-winning film from Ancestry.

What else Linda discovers feels less like coincidence or chance and more like ancestral guidance. This episode beautifully demonstrates how family history research can move us from longing to belonging, creating profound connections that span generations.

Link to Hawkins Wilson film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wDwDR6yjhk

Link to Episode 11:
https://www.cristacowan.com/blog/the-letter-that-waited-how-one-ancestry-tree-uncovered-a-155-year-family-story

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🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

What if one of history's most famous authors unknowingly documented your ancestor's immigration journey? In 1863, my three-times-great-grandmother Rachel Smuin sailed from England to America aboard the Amazon—and Charles Dickens was there to witness it all. Expecting to find chaos and disorder among 800 Mormon emigrants, Dickens instead discovered remarkable organization, cheerfulness, and dignity that completely challenged his preconceptions. His detailed letter about that day provides an incredible window into Rachel's actual crossing experience, from the crowded London docks to the careful inspections before departure. I'll read you Dickens' account and share how I discovered this hidden gem that brings my ancestor's journey to life. This episode will inspire you to search for the contemporary records, newspaper articles, and historical accounts that might capture your own family's pivotal moments in surprising detail.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

🚢 When 11-year-old Lydia escaped Russia on the last evacuation ship in 1920, she began documenting her extraordinary journey in beautiful handwritten diaries.

Tamara Buzyna Adams discovered her grandmother’s childhood diaries during COVID lockdown. What started as a mother-daughter translation project unveiled an incredible story: a young girl who lived on a refugee ship for two and a half years, finding joy and wonder even amid the chaos following the Russian Revolution.

Through meticulous research, Tamara pieced together not just dates and places, but a moving story of childhood resilience. Her most surprising discovery came when she decided to research the mysterious friends Lydia mentioned throughout her diaries - children with nicknames like "Zhenya" and "Kolya."

Lydia's story reveals how family histories preserved through a child's innocent perspective can illuminate our ancestors' humanity and inspire resilience across generations.

_____

Visit Tamara's website to see pictures of Lydia and her friends and for information about her book, Last Ship to Freedom:  https://www.tamarabuzynaadams.com/

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

What if your ancestors' darkest moment could teach you the most about resilience? 

While chasing down a DNA match with my dad, I uncovered a shocking story about two sets of my 8x great-grandparents that kept me awake all night. Roger and Anne Park and Andrew and Olive Smith were Quakers who fled England seeking religious freedom in colonial New Jersey, but found decades of land disputes and corrupt officials instead. When my 7x great-grandfather John Park and his brother-in-law, Thomas Smith faced an impossible choice - pay twice for land they already owned or lose everything - their response involved tar, feathers, and a decision that haunts me as I consider how we respond to injustice today. This discovery reminded me why family stories matter: they teach us resilience even when our ancestors made questionable choices, and show us we can choose to be better in the face of hardship.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When Tara Hall discovered her great-uncle Norman had been shot down in WWII, his story became an enigma that haunted her family for generations. In this poignant episode, my Ancestry colleague Tara shares how Norman joined the Army Air Corps as a navigator, following in his older brother's footsteps. Shot down over Germany on just his third mission, Norman's body remained unidentified for twelve years, leaving his family in painful limbo. Through military records and precious letters, Tara uncovered not just how Norman died, but glimpses of who he truly was—a young man who secretly read poetry and promised his father, "Don't worry about me, Dad." As we approach Memorial Day, this story reminds us of the profound ripple effects war creates across generations, and how family history transforms enigmas into cherished ancestors whose memories provide strength and resilience.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When Lisa Elzey discovered her grandfather flew on a B-17 bomber during D-Day, she knew there was more to uncover…

In this continuation of last week's DNA revelation, Lisa shares how researching her grandfather's war buddies unveiled an extraordinary military legacy. From discovering rare crew photos to uncovering first-hand accounts of a harrowing mission that earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, Lisa's persistence reveals how the stories of those around our ancestors can illuminate their lives. Together we explore how researching the network of people surrounding her grandfather transformed fragments of information into a rich narrative that brought her mother to tears—proving that sometimes the most powerful family connections emerge when we look beyond the family tree.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When DNA results revealed a puzzling Quebec connection in Lisa Elzey's family tree — everything she thought she knew was called into question... 

Join me for an intimate conversation with my podcast producer Lisa and her mother Nidel as they unravel a family mystery that remained hidden for over seven decades. Witness how modern genealogy technology unlocked memories long forgotten and reshaped Nidel's understanding of her identity at age 74. This powerful story explores how unexpected discoveries can bring clarity rather than chaos, and how it's never too late to embrace the truth about where we come from. Their journey reminds us that sometimes the stories that live in us are waiting for the right moment to unfold.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

For one year straight, I've shared stories that remind us we're all connected through the messy, beautiful threads of family history — and today, I'm celebrating YOU. Recorded live at RootsTech 2025, this anniversary episode is a reflection of the incredible stories we've uncovered together, from my great-great-grandmother Carrie to DNA discoveries that led to phone calls from heaven. In this special episode, I'm revisiting seven of my favorite moments from the past year and sharing the behind-the-scenes impact each story had on me, on my guests, and on you. From discovering how a kitchen table can become a family's gathering place for connection to the family of seven sailing through storms, you'll hear what made these episodes unforgettable — and why your own family stories might be closer than you think. Whether you've been listening since day one or just discovered this podcast, join me as we reflect on how family stories aren’t just about the past - they’re about creating connections that last generations. And, get a sneak peek at our exciting America 250 project coming in year two of the podcast.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

 When Simon Pearce discovered his great-great-uncle Howard's name on a casualty list from WWI, his heart skipped a beat — launching a 20-year quest to piece together the life of a man he never met but now feels deeply connected to... In this moving conversation, Simon, an Ancestry military history expert, shares how Howard's service from China to Gallipoli and ultimate sacrifice in 1915 created ripples through generations of his family. Together we explore how a single postcard, a war diary, and a sister's poignant poem in her autograph book transformed Howard from a name on a memorial to a cherished family member. This episode reminds us that family stories don't end with death, but continue to shape identity, create connection, and inspire purpose across generations — sometimes in the most unexpected ways. 

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

💕 When a stranger asked Irene Hantman about Arthur Kurzweil's lecture at a Jewish genealogy conference, she never imagined it would change her life forever...

In this heartwarming episode, I talk with Irene, an accomplished genealogist and longtime editor of Avotaynu journal, about her 40-year journey through Jewish family history. She shares how receiving the book "From Generation to Generation" sparked a lifelong passion that ultimately led to love when she met Jerry at a conference in Los Angeles.

Irene's story weaves through her early discoveries at the National Archives, uncovering the mysteries of her grandmother's citizenship, and navigating the complexities of Jewish surname changes. But what makes her journey truly special is how genealogy brought her not just family connections, but unexpected romance at age 60.

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🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

🍀 When Brian Donnelly's grandfather calmly announced he was having a heart attack, nine-year-old Brian's only instruction was to fetch a warm glass of milk…

In this heartwarming episode, I chat with the Ancestry Chief Commercial Officer about family remedies that become inside jokes and DNA discoveries that challenge family lore. Brian shares how his Irish identity was upended when his DNA results revealed more Scottish ancestry than expected, and how a single photo from his great-uncle's military regiment opened doors to remarkable connections. You'll discover how family history research rekindled Brian's relationship with a long-disconnected aunt and how he's passing down meaningful stories to his three young children. Whether it's warm milk for heart attacks or aloe for sunburns, every family has their cure-all traditions that become part of their unique language and connection.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

When Anne Mitchell discovered a tattered family Bible with a handwritten account of an ancestor eagerly joining the Confederate Army in 1861 it changed how she understood her family history. Now, it has also changed how millions might discover their own histories. Anne shares the story of her ancestor John Calvin Gillespie—from excited Confederate soldier to "galvanized Yankee" to a man whose tragic end made headlines across America. Her deep dive into her family's Civil War connections (with ten direct ancestors who fought in the conflict!) ultimately inspired her work as a product manager at Ancestry® developing the new Networks feature. In our conversation we explore how confronting complicated truths about our ancestors can lead to personal transformation and why understanding past generations might be a key to understanding ourselves today.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!