Family can be such a joy one moment and then be a source of contention the next. One minute you feel so blessed to have them and in another minute because of what someone says or does, one can feel so shut down by the very family they feel blessed...

On a whim, I typed my great-great-grandfather’s name and “Ireland” into the internet search bar. Turns out there are innumerable Patrick McDonalds from Ireland, so I refined my search by adding “Ohio” and the approximate date that he immigrated to...