Let me begin with deep thanks for this wonderful, generous group attending today. Rhonda Lauritzen became an important part of my previous startup and has been incredibly generous as I began this journey into Projectkin. I’m also especially touched to see so many active Projectkin members, including Kathy Stone, producer behind the Kathy’s Corner series, Linda Teather, Kyla Bayang, Bill Moore, Marci KR, Gwynn Socolich, Diane Burley, Bill Butcher, Ann Rockley, and so many more. I’m truly grateful.

This program, like our subscriptions, is available free thanks to the generous support of our Patrons. Learn more and join us 👇.

Many of you will have heard me talk about the wonderful family history book my grandmother self-published in 1948. It’s a beloved heirloom from a limited print run of 100 copies. It’s also an artifact of its time that doesn’t touch the difficult conversations. Unraveling the stories of our ancestors from the knotted balls of expectations has fueled much of the energy I devote to Projectkin. From what I’ve seen, that’s true for many of you.

About Rhonda

Rhonda LauritzenofEvalogue.Life, our speaker for today’s program, is one of the great storytelling talents in our genealogy community. She’s an accomplished speaker and professional biographer. As a professional biographer, Rhonda is a frequent speaker at RootsTech and other national conferences.

You’ll find a number of Rhonda’s inspiring talks on YouTube, including this one for Ponga, “Storytelling Through Your Family Photos,” and two for Projectkin. The first followed our All About That Place series in 2024, “The Curious Call of Ancestral Places.” A second, in January 2025, was part of Jan Hutcheon’s Forget-me-Not series about stories told at memorials.

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Links, Toolkits & References

Rhonda always comes to these programs from a teacher’s perspective, generously sharing resources and, in this case, a toolkit designed to help you address the Hard Stuff.

Toolkit:

* Toolkit for handling the Hard Stuff: Evalogue.life/sensitive2

Recommended Books:

* “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents” by Lindsay Gibson: amazon.com/Adult-Children-Emotionally-Immature-Parents/dp/1626251703

* “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High”: amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-Second-ebook/dp/B005K0AYH4

About Journaling:

* Article on journaling that includes info about therapeutic journaling and other techniques: Evalogue.life/journal-writing

Rhonda’s Most Recent Books:

Rhonda’s two most recent books were traditionally published last year:

* A Child in Berlin by Post Hill Press

* To hear Heidi tell her story on NPR, go here. It’s the second news item on the page: Evalogue.life/news

* Creative Insecurity: Lean Into the Unknown and Unleash Your Inner Misfit by Simon & Schuster.

RootsTech: Ride Along with Us!

With RootsTech starting in a little over a week, let me take this opportunity to invite you to join in on our community “Ride Along.” You’ll join a global community of family historians and genealogists attending the 2026 RootsTech conference together, both on-site and online. Follow along at

Or subscribe to get recordings and notifications. You’ll be joining the partnership of Geneabloggers and Projectkin as community members support each other with special events, livestreams, and even a little swag and a table in the Society Hall at the Salt Palace.

Whether you’re there in your tennies or at home in your bunny slippers, let’s get the most out of it by enjoying this conference together. 🐰🐰

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