Marie Lochmiller Christiansen, Marcus Bonnichsen Christiansen and children; daughters, Martha, Marie, Dot, Ella and Neva; and son, Marcus, Jr. The ghost image is Jim Martin who took this photo of a framed picture under glass. The glass reflected his image which is why Martha looks like she has clock in her stomach (Jim’s wristwatch).

How did this web site come to be?

On April 20, 2021, Paula Hassler (daughter of Ella in the picture above) sent an email to her cousins asking if any of us would like to receive a copy of her essay, My Life with Dot and Jack. Thus began an email sharing of beloved family stories. I have attempted to archive those stories here, including photos and audio recordings sent to me on computer media. I can take credit for very little of the content. I am grateful for all of the contributions from my cousins.

In particular,

Thank you to Nori Muster (granddaughter of Ella in the picture above) for categorizing and organizing all of the digital audio clips that I have uploaded to this web site. In addition, posthumous gratitude goes to Don Hassler for producing those digital files from the original audio tape recordings.

Thank you to Don Martin (son of Martha in the picture above) for contributing the Clubhouse Journal of the JANM&CS.

Last, but not least, thank you to all who participated in our email story sharing. I have attempted to edit your emails while preserving the content of your stories. If I have over-edited and omitted a story that is important to you, I apologize. Let me know and I will fix it.

I hope you enjoy perusing this archive of our family stories.

Steven Mark Christiansen (son of the young man in the picture above)