Knowing more about family history is the single biggest predictor of a child's emotional well-being. Grandparents can play a special role in this process, too.
The kitchen is the heart of every home, for the most part. It evokes memories of your family history.
At the beginning of my career as a writer, I felt I knew nothing of Chinese culture. I was writing about emotional confusion with my mother related to our different beliefs. Hers was based in family history, which I didn't know anything about. I always felt hesitant in talking about Chinese culture and American culture.
The book begins and ends with the visits to give the impression of a tunnel into their ancestors and family history. I believe in going backwards into the past - I felt I was digging a tunnel back to the past.
The most successful families embrace and elevate their family history, particularly their failures, setbacks and other missteps.
The thing that interests me most about family history is the gap between the things we think we know about our families and the realities.
If you have autism in the family history, you still vaccinate. Delay it a bit, space them out.
My mom started an air-freight company; my grandmother built a golf course. I have a certain degree of entrepreneurial risk-taking in my family history. Maybe that eventually rubbed off on me a little bit.
My family history, like that of many Polish, German and Jewish families from Central Europe in the 20th century, is complex.
My mum and dad teach, and all my brothers and sisters have been in 'Riverdance' and so forth. So I was forced to become a dancer; it's part of my family history.