Reflections on the 2020 A-Z Challenge

A-Z Challenge 2020, Cleages, Detroit, Grahams

I had been reading along with Sarah Zama’s continuing story on her Old Shelter Blog last year, when she mentioned that we were entering the twenties again. I decided to write about my family during that time period. On January 1, 2020, I wrote to her “I have got my A to Z schedule all laid out and every letter is sketched in. The theme is – My Family in the Roaring 20s. I hope other people do the 1920s too.”

My Grahams

In my eight years of participating in the A to Z Challenge, I have never gotten such an early start. Usually I spend everyday during the month of April researching and writing my posts.

I had known most of the people I wrote about. They were my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles. I had even met one of my great grandmothers. I had visited some of the places they had lived, heard their stories, collected their memories and had many family photographs.

In February, I started putting the posts together, matching photographs with memories and I had written the majority of my posts when the Covid-19 pandemic came crashing in. Even so, I was ahead of myself when April 1 rolled around.

I did some adding and changing, as I went along, but it was much less stressful than usual. There was lots of time for visiting other blogs and commenting. I am not really sure if I visited more, but I didn’t have to do it at midnight! There was a core of blogs that I visited everyday, commenting most days, adding a few different ones here and there. Most of my regular visits were to blogs I follow all the time or from former challenges. I found several new ones that are now added to my list.

I seem to have received about the same number of comments as last year. I tried to reply to all of them and visited back all who posted.

You can find an index to my posts here 2020 A to Z Challenge.

Thank you to everyone who makes the challenge work and to everyone who read my posts and to those who commented. And to my husband Jim who proof reads my posts. Although I do sometimes change up afterwards, so he’s not to blame if some errors creep in!

See you all back next April!

My Cleages. Grandmother Celia to the right. Hugh down front, Louis looking right. Henry in the middle. My father Albert with the hat. My grandfather with baby Barbara.

20 thoughts on “Reflections on the 2020 A-Z Challenge”

  1. Loved getting to know your Grahams and your Cleages Kristin.
    I’m inspired by your method to be ready with posts well in advance. I hope to do so every year and every year (of participation) I end up writing my posts on the day or the day before.
    Thank you for sharing some wonderful memories and photos and that 20s fashion catalogue:)
    Stay safe and healthy.

    1. This is the first year I have been so prepared. I hope a theme comes to me well before next April so I can be prepared again. It was so nerve wracking to have to do a post everyday for the day at hand.

  2. The Roaring 20s is such a fun theme. Similarly to you, I’m looking forward to digging into the Roaring 20s over the next few years on my blog.

  3. Hi Kristin,
    Roaring 20s sounds like a wonderful theme, and just a tad ahead of where my research is currently focused which is WWI and Australians serving in France in particular. This doesn’t always make it onto my blog. However, there’s a historical thread running through many of my posts. I’ve noticed you’ve been following Linda’s Curry Apple Orchard. I’ve loved reading her posts and for me it’s been great to connect with a fellow Aussie via the blog. I look forward to reading through our posts and well done for getting ahead start this year. I did manage that one year but beavering away through April and getting to bed well after midnight has become my norm. Next year…
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

    1. I usually research further back than the 1920s, but it seemed like an interesting way to write about my family during that time. I have so enjoyed Linda’s story! And there was a new episode last night. I’m glad I will still be able to see what happened next.

      I just found your blog yesterday when I went through the “Reflections” list. I’ll be following you throughout the coming year.

  5. I thought your theme worked well and I enjoyed getting to know your family better and see some of your terrific family photos.. Like you I had more time this year but I still wasn’t prepared enough and wrote most days during April but I had the time. I had prepared most of the topics beforehand. Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting through the challenge.

  6. I’ve never tried to discipline myself to meet this challenge…it’s a bit more than my rambling in my ancestry trees that I do already. I am happy to read your posts when I get the chance. Why not daily? I haven’t a clue where all the time has disappeared…but I am posting more blogs even if they are a bit scattered. Thanks for sharing about your family…it’s really interesting reading.

    1. I enjoy your blog too, but rarely get to it daily. Sometimes I read and don’t comment too. I appreciate you reading and commenting when you do!

  7. I really enjoyed this theme, Kristin. Your family is a world! Thank you for having drawn up that chart halfway through the month as a guide to everyone. At the end of the decade, of course, there was the Depression. I wonder how it affected your family? And your parents are moving closer and closer to meeting. . .

    1. I will have to do the 30s! Right now I’m working on some of the items I found before or during the A to Z that I never got around to writing up.

  8. LOL! Kristin, I’m so happy I somehow inspired your challenge of this year because I truly enjoyed it. Loved all the stories and all the beautiful photos.
    It was splendind!

      1. Hello there, I came across a video of your old house on Chicago Blvd, in Detroit. Please copy/click on the link posted below. Maybe you can write another post sharing your experience living here and also further exploring the history of this once beautiful home.

        https://youtu.be/Y1YkzbKaLPs

        1. Well, that was depressing. I didn’t watch the whole thing. It used to be a beautiful house. Not just falling to pieces now, but all that junk everywhere. Very sad. Poor house.

Comments are closed.