I consider this my first "genealogy" moment. 1984. I was 9 years old.
Nels Sommer & Ane Marie Jonasen met and married in Denmark and had their first two children there before emigrating to Rockford, Illinois.
A surprising artifact discovered after a parent's death leads to a series of discoveries and an ongoing interest in genealogy.
Not quite 14 years old, I met my ancestors by accident and life has never been the same.
A first experiment searching historic newspaper archives is successful, but yields a ghastly surprise.