About Me

Hello! Welcome to TwigTalk! My name is Sherida, but most people just call me Sheri. I am a lifelong Hoosier, my maternal line is in Indiana, starting around 1840. This line goes mostly north-eastward before that. My paternal line starts in Alabama after 1906, and goes back through the south. My father moved with his family to Indiana from Alabama in 1950.

I've been 'into' researching my family since around 1978. I was always interested in the family stories. I thought about "going pro" for a short time many years ago. I decided to just work on my family history and enjoy the work.

I do volunteer to the ALGenWeb. I am coordinator of the  DeKalb County and Etowah County sites on the ALGenWeb (Alabama GenWeb). 

I started TwigTalk on April 26, 2008, and used it only for genealogy posts. Here it is 2020 and I am going to add more of my work, or my life, to it. Genealogy, quilting, sewing, reading, and just life in general. Quite frankly, I am creating my own history each day for those that come after me, maybe I should record some of it.

In 2012 I became very ill. I was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, just a couple of days before Christmas of that year. I was unable to make healthy blood cells. Thank you for my life to the blood donors out there! They kept me alive. I took 5 rounds of chemo (Vidaza), but it did not work for me. On June 24, 2013, I got a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). My donor was my brother, Paul. He gave me the gift of life on his own  birthday! Without that, I would not be here today. Since the transplant, I have been fighting cGVHD (chronic Graft vs. Host Disease), which is common, but does not always happen. I live its impacts every day. Not always pleasant.

One of the things I do is sew and quilt. My maternal grandmother taught me to sew and I have always had some project going in fiber.

I read mostly books on genealogy, spiritual works, natural healing, and creativity.