I didn’t grow up surrounded by many family members. I lived on the West Coast of the United States, while my relatives were either in New York (on my mother’s side) or Indiana (on my father’s side).

Anyone who knows me is aware that I'm into family history in a big way. About 30 years ago, I began researching my family’s genealogy. Through my research, I discovered that many generations of my ancestors had lived in Hyde County, North Carolina. Ten years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Hyde County, and when I saw a road sign for “Swindell Fork,” I started to cry. Swindell is my surname! I had never met anyone outside of my immediate family with the last name Swindell – just my uncle and his three children.

My husband took a picture of the Swindell Fork road sign, and recently, I created a 12x12 Metal Wall Panel of it through FOREVER. For the panel, I brought the original photo into Historian to add a Sepia Tone effect to it, and to blur out the background – so the sign was more prominent. I received the panel a few days ago, and I absolutely love it!