Recap and Reflections on Endwell: My High School Years — Including all 26 posts in the April 2023 Blogging from #AtoZChallenge. Thanks for joining me on the journey and commenting along the way!
Now that the April 2023 Blogging from #AtoZChallenge is over, I am happy to be among the winners who completed the online marathon — for the fifth time!
After a frenetic month of blogging six days a week, I’ll be relieved to return to weekly blogging as I continue to explore my ancestors’ lives and the research techniques I used to find them.
Yet it was fun taking a deep dive into my high school years in Endwell, N.Y, during the late 1960s. Stay tuned — for next year I am considering a return to family history in My Life: The Prequel, chronicling my parents’ early lives, courtship and marriage through photos. I can hardly believe I’ve already done the outline!
RECAP OF “ENDWELL: MY HIGH SCHOOL YEARS”
Below, in alpha order, are links to my #AtoZChallenge2023 posts about Endwell: My High School Years, adding my story to the family history mix. Please check out any you may have missed. Comments are still open on the later posts, and I love hearing from readers!
- Theme Reveal – Endwell: My High School Years
- Art and the Avocado
- Birthday Surprise: I turn 18!
- Coffeehouse Fridays
- Dave Clark Five Concert in Endicott, N.Y.
- Eugene McCarthy: Campaigning for Peace in 1968
- Florida bound: My first trip south
- Guitar lessons at Matty’s Music Centre
- Homecoming Float Committee Chair
- Illicit Harpur College poetry readings
- Just for fun: High school vignettes
- K of C dances and Curl Free
- Learning to drive: I get my license
- Madame Defarge of AP English
- Norm in his 40s: My dad becomes a Catholic
- Ordinary classes: What fun!
- Peg in her 40s: My mom resumes her career
- Question of ethnicity: My first family tree
- RFK, MLK and a tumultuous 1968
- Sewing a fashionable wardrobe
- Tribute to Jane LaTour: 9th Blogiversary
- Unusual Sixties TV Shows
- Vietnam War: A heartbreaking casualty
- Work: My odd jobs in high school
- X-excise: Before Title IX
- Yes! Accepted to college
- Zip Code changes: Graduation & my fond farewell to Endwell
REFLECTIONS ON #ATOZCHALLENGE 2023
Busier than ever and more writing. Overall, this A-to-Z was busier for me than last time. I went all-in on commenting regularly, but sometimes had to play catch up to get it done. I focused on A-to-Z genealogy bloggers for my visits/comments — but I visited around a bit, too, and even joined some new-to-me blog hops! I also found that high school is such a formative period that longer posts were needed — so I did more writing this year, too.
Great camaraderie. Overall, I learned so much from the meaningful camaraderie and thoughtful comments I received — and from the blogs I visited. I was gratified by the positive feedback and parallel experiences that visiting bloggers shared. It was nice to catch up with bloggers from previous A-to-Z Challenges — and meet new ones through blog hops.
Embracing memoir. My blog focuses on ancestral research — but it’s also important for genealogists to include ourselves in the mix, leaving an online diary like the ones we wish our ancestors had left. That’s why I followed up earlier A-to-Z themes on my early childhood (2017), my elementary years (2020) and my early teens (2021) with this series on my high school years.
Many thanks to the team for keeping the A to Z Challenge going — and to everyone who visited, subscribed, followed and commented on Molly’s Canopy. You made my fifth #AtoZChallenge so rewarding. And now that you’ve met my family, please follow, subscribe and join me throughout the year as my genealogy journey continues!
Up next: After a brief break, regular blogging resumes at Molly’s Canopy. Please stop back!
© 2023 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.