GenStack
February 22, 2025
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Stacked Between the Leaves
Here is what you will find in this week’s GenStack
GenStack Featured:
Stacked this Week (32 Stacked)
Video Presentations (5 Stacked)
Podcast (6 Stacked)
Coming Events (7 Stacked)
GenStack Coterie ( 1 Opening)
Additional This Week (34 Stacked)
GenStack Featured
Each week, GenStack features content that is recommended for anyone interested in genealogy and family history. This week, join me in appreciating the gifts found in Stories with Shell.
Stories with Shell
In her publication, Stories with Shell, Shell Norman writes about the memories that live within her, bringing them to life in a way that makes us feel like they’re our own. When she shares the moments that have stayed with her, we, as readers, can’t help but connect. She has a way of taking the simplest memories and making them resonate, reminding us of our own stories.
Shell published Dad’s Whistlestop this week and something magical happened. Her words took me right back to my own dad’s whistle, distinct and belonging to my sister and me. That’s how he’d call us home when we were playing down the street, or when we had gone off a little too far. It’s how he let me know that no matter how mad I was as a teenager, I wasn’t allowed to walk off and not deal with whatever was going on.
Shell gave me a gift this week. She took me back to another time in my life when things were so much simpler— to a memory that means so much. It was not just me that experienced that though. Read this compilation of her comments to truly understand the impact Shell has on the family history community here on Substack.
"Love this story! A dear friend’s mom had a similar 'call' that she would use even with her friends. I think their entire circle knew the 'call.' Such a fond memory. My dad always whistled, and my mom would try to whistle but never really mastered it. Whistling is kind of a lost art in today’s world, but it always brings a smile to my face when I hear someone whistling away."
— Amy
"Heart-warming, Shell. I love that you have your own family tune. It's like when my brother calls us back home for dinner after playing outside and 'ticking' our heads as we go in one after the other. Strange how we all have our family quirks, isn't it? Sweet that you keep your dad's memory alive through his whistle."
— Anna
"Very sweet, Shell. Both of my parents had a certain whistle as well. I wish they would have taught us that sound. I can still hear it in my memory."
— Annette
"What a delightful family story, Shell, thank you for sharing! How truly special it is that your family is forever bonded by this unique and deeply personal sound. Isn't it just incredible how sounds are so deeply imprinted in our minds and conjure the most vivid, specific memories of people, places, and moments?"
— Ruhie
"Shell, I listened to the story, which I don't often do. Thank you for recording it, as it added a great deal to the experience. My dad also had a whistle, and I write memoirs, so we have something in common. Have you ever done or considered doing The Moth? I think this story would be a great candidate! Thanks for sharing it!"
— Sheri
"I love this SO much! My family of origin doesn't have a call—we weren't close, rather just all sort of co-existed and made it through. My siblings and I are all super close now and lost my mom a few years ago. So while we don't have a signature family whistle, there's more of a silent history of trauma and resilience that pulls us together. As for my current family, gosh! This makes me want to create one. The closest I can think of is the kids were at the park and in order to get them to leave we yelled 'come on, I have seaweed in the car'—haha! They came running. I suppose that's a bit unique."
— Bree
"Shell, your dad was some kind of special guy. You were very fortunate to have him in your life. He continues to live on through your recounting of his 'ways.' Keep those memories coming."
— Benn
"What a truly heartwarming story. I absolutely love the idea that you can recognize the whistle in a crowd in a heartbeat. We never had anything like this in our family, but I somehow now wish we did!"
— Paul
"SHELL! I love this—my family had/has a similar whistle (two short low bursts, one high burst, and one in the middle), so your experience of feeling called/summoned by a particular sequence of notes felt so familiar."
— Sara
"Thanks for bringing back memories! I learned this cadence from an old friend and used it with my own children. They would recognize it as their own sound! Unfortunately, my mom just yelled my name down the street for all to hear when she needed me back home, lol."
— Mary
"My mom had a similar whistle for me when I was out playing in the neighborhood—I could hear it from miles away. None of us kids could learn how to do it back though."
— Henny
"Well, my mom can’t anymore—her voice has been affected by Parkinson’s. But she could up until a few years ago. When her grandkids were younger, she would use it sometimes on them. I never learned how to do it."
— Henny
"I was fascinated by this, as a special whistle passed down in a family like this is a practice I have never heard of before. Of course, it makes perfect sense."
— Jane
"What a great reminder of the different ways we are bound together as family. Do you know how the whistle got started and by whom? And does your brother still use it in his family?
I’m fascinated. As I read the piece, I ran through my memory bank and was unable to remember anyone I knew who had a family whistle. Thanks for another wonderful family story that made me think."
— Lori
That is why Stories with Shell is the featured publication this week.
Daddy Was an Outlaw (with Jackie Dorothy) | Episode 47
with Crista Cowan
S3 Ep9: A Taskmaster, a Knackerman and an Architect: Unearthing the Past with YouTuber Zac Alsop
with Dr. Michala Hulme
EP23: AI Predictions for 2025: Agents, Local Models, Social Media Chatbots, Writing with AI, Costs Keep Dropping
EP22: The Google Empire Strikes Back: Deep Research Challenges Perplexity, NotebookLM's Big Updates, and Facebook Adds AI to Groups
with Mark Thompson and Steve Little
Did you know?
Relatives at RootsTech is pretty cool. You can participate too. Don’t wait too long. It ends on April 12, 2025.
Are you a genealogy and family history content creator? Are you looking for a way to:
Gain more visibility?
Access a network of genealogy and family history content creators?
Learn how to take your content to the next level?
If you are, sign up for our interest list. Each month. we accept a limited amount of new members to the GenStack Coterie, a private community of and for genealogy and family history content creators.
GenStack Coterie has 1 Opening this month.
See if GenStack Coterie is the right fit for you.
Find out More about the GenStack Coterie
Membership in the GenStack Coterie offers a multi-faceted approach to supporting family history content creators through:
Direct support & promotional efforts
Strategic learning opportunities
A strong, collaborative community
A Meddling Rich Guy
Kids' Stories, BIRLS, Rented Farms, Approximate Deaths, One Room Locations, Late Dead People, Picture Positions, and Webinars
'A Symbol of Invincibility'
The Difference Between Upper and Lower South Carolina
Cowing the Marchers
Why I Don’t Store Media in My RootsMagic Database
Juggling Act
Writing About Genealogy & My Sixteen
Please Find Me, I'm Lost Sometimes...
Why are we named History Landing 1620?
Brain Health Beyond Crossword Puzzles
Cherry Cobbler
An Englishman abroad
Press of the Yard: Gentleman, Detective, and Fraudster
All Creatures Great and Small
A young truck driver's tragic Christmas-time death
Place of death = workhouse infirmary
Hot tip: how to easily copy text that won't copy/paste
Peter Gates
A chair, a clock, and a cash register
The Death of Ann Row
Monopoly Tour of London: Old Kent Road
My Journey to the Homeland: Moravská Třebová: Part II
February Fun Fax with Aunt Ruthie's Diary
American Pioneer Series
Free Genealogy Sites to Explore and Use to Boost Your Family History Work
The Road to Paradise
TDC: 21 Feb 1925 Sat
Genealogy Societies, slowly dying
Tech Tips for AI in Genealogy Workflow
Deciphering Acadia
115th wedding anniversary
The highest cliffs in Europe, an Irish name translator, and handmade pottery evan@yourireishheritage.com
The last Spanish Inquisitor in Puerto Rico
So, I’m listed with the Genstack Coterie!
Thank you for your generous heart in helping us all connect. 💓