Today I’m sharing a story that has been unfolding for me since 2015, when I one day acted on a thought and then got curious. This story of my ancestor Woodrow Dunkley has changed my life. That’s what stories do. My hope is that as I share it with you, you too will have the desire to learn more about someone in your family tree that may have a story that is begging to be explored and preserved.

I honestly believe the more conversant we become with family history stories, the more we can draw strength from the experiences of those that have come and gone before us—and when we share these stories, especially with younger family members, the more they will see their current circumstances as something suited to their growth—the more they will recognize their potential to do hard things and develop the grit that will allow them to have story-worthy experiences of their own making.

Side NOTE: FamilySearch International is celebrating 125 years of helping people make inspiring connections. FamilySearch is 100% FREE. There are more than 13 million FamilySearch registered users and 7.42 BILLION searchable names—that’s a LOT of names. It’s very likely that a few of those names—those people are connected to YOU. Create an account here.

IF you are interested in the stories I shared today, you’ll find more information in the following books:

I’m One of the Lucky Ones, Raymond Heimbuch

Zero Ward, Murray M. Sneddon

Escape from Davao, John D. Lukacs

We Were Next to Nothing, Carl S. Nordin

I also mentioned a PDF research paper—which, turns out is too big to include as a download here, but if you’d like a copy, email me (stacy@stacyjulian.com) and I’ll send you a DropBox link.

Do you want to create some amazing, personal and totally unique-to-you story-based projects next year? JOIN me in 20in20. All the details are HERE.