Isn’t that the truth! I’m Carla Gerardu-Low, and this is my little place in the world where I can share my family’s history and experiences. There are over 3,000 people in my database, so sadly, I will likely only learn a few of their stories. Still, the process exponentially expanded my understanding of world history. Our family’s stories span the globe – from Northern Europe to Indonesia to the United States.

It has also taught me so much about my ancestors and what influenced them. Like them, we make decisions that move our lives in different directions every day. It’s about the people we meet, the jobs we do, what we learn, the things we do for fun, and more. That is the same for our ancestors.

My genealogy work and blog stories focus on the following core surnames – Gerardu, Low, Sessions, and van Bilsen. However, my primary focus has been on my Dutch-Indonesian roots. It’s a unique little-known cultural group that is shrinking due to diaspora, so I would like to do my part to preserve its history. In the other trees, there are also European and American history stories that date back to the 1600s in the family, but those will come later.

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