I have always been interested in the history that our cemeteries hold. As our "only" family genealogist for many years, I located many of my "lost" family members by spending many hours in remote and nearly forgotten family cemeteries in the mountains of East Tennessee, the Smokey Mountains and Cherokee Nation. Also a trained photographer, the memorial markers became a favorite subject of mine. Most of my assignments while studying photography focused on these subjects. Family and friends were always cautious of accepting invitations to spend the day with me for fear it would be centered around a cemetery or two. My daughter, Rachel, was only four years old when she began tagging along with her own little camera. She now is a talented photographer with her own studio located near Disney in Orlando. She credits her love of photography to her childhood experiences on our cemetery treasure hunts. My Cherokee roots have driven me to extreme measures while researching my ancestry and local cemeteries and burial grounds have helped us uncover family members and secrets that would have surely gone unrecognized if not for my determination to leave none of my ancestors unrecognized. The sadness of coming upon an unmarked grave that had clearly not been visited for many years bothered me so much that most of them were added to my list as "adopted" friends. When I visited my own family, they were included. I was surprised to learn of FAG and how it helped others locate loved ones, and naturally wanted to participate. So here I am, and always willing to help whenever I am able.

I have always been interested in the history that our cemeteries hold. As our "only" family genealogist for many years, I located many of my "lost" family members by spending many hours in remote and nearly forgotten family cemeteries in the mountains of East Tennessee, the Smokey Mountains and Cherokee Nation. Also a trained photographer, the memorial markers became a favorite subject of mine. Most of my assignments while studying photography focused on these subjects. Family and friends were always cautious of accepting invitations to spend the day with me for fear it would be centered around a cemetery or two. My daughter, Rachel, was only four years old when she began tagging along with her own little camera. She now is a talented photographer with her own studio located near Disney in Orlando. She credits her love of photography to her childhood experiences on our cemetery treasure hunts. My Cherokee roots have driven me to extreme measures while researching my ancestry and local cemeteries and burial grounds have helped us uncover family members and secrets that would have surely gone unrecognized if not for my determination to leave none of my ancestors unrecognized. The sadness of coming upon an unmarked grave that had clearly not been visited for many years bothered me so much that most of them were added to my list as "adopted" friends. When I visited my own family, they were included. I was surprised to learn of FAG and how it helped others locate loved ones, and naturally wanted to participate. So here I am, and always willing to help whenever I am able.