Great-Grandma McKenna

My mom's mother's mom, who died the year I was born, was a part of the "Orphan Train" program. They sent orphans from New York City to homes out west in the late 1800's to early 1900's, for foster care or adoption. My Irish great-great grandparents in Wisconsin adopted her sometime between 1895 (the year she was born) and 1900. Sadly, I'll probably never be able to find information about her birth family, but I have found out many things about her that I didn't know before.

Yesterday I found her junior and senior year high school yearbooks online. She performed in some plays. She was also active in the Girls' Literary Society, which met regularly to discuss music, books and papers. Some of the girls wrote and published their own books, about everything from boys to beauty to autobiographies. My great-grandmother's book was called "Chemistry Made Easy," a guide for freshmen. Pretty cool.

Oh, her last name was McKenna, and her high school nickname was "Kenny." Kenny! Love it!

Kumail Nanjiani was on Ellen yesterday! He told a hilarious story!!