My grandfather died before I was born, but everyone loved him. Genealogy helped me feel connected to him.

Courtesy of the author

I never met my paternal grandfather, but he's always been a larger-than-life figure in our family. Known affectionately by my older cousins as Grandpa Louie, he was born in 1919 and died in 1987, only a few short years before I was born. I've often felt robbed of a relationship with him, though stories and photos fill in some of the holes left by his absence.