Welcome

Welcome to Spring Valley Loop.

This is where I keep the stories.

Stories of family, place, memory, and the people whose lives continue to shape mine long after they are gone.

What began as an attempt to preserve a few family stories became something more. The deeper I dug into old photographs, newspaper clippings, letters, and memories, the more I realized that family history is not really about dates and names. It is about people. It is about the habits, sayings, recipes, gardens, objects, and stories that are passed from one generation to the next.

The essays gathered here are rooted in my own family, but I hope they will remind you of yours.

Perhaps they will bring to mind a grandmother’s kitchen, an uncle’s workshop, a favorite story told around the table, or a question you wish you had asked before it was too late.

However you found your way here, I hope you’ll pull up a chair, stay awhile, and leave a little more curious about the stories that made you.