It was December 19, 1904 when Michael Glinka landed at Ellis Island from his long journey on the North German Line ship, Brandenberg, coming from his home in what was known as Oderberg, Austria-Hungary, now known as Bohumin, Czech Republic. I learned this information when I first began my genealogy research in 1997. I always enjoyed hearing stories about the family's history from my dad and my beloved Cio Cia Sophie, Michael's sixth child, prompting me to investigate more about our origins. A few weeks ago, I made the pilgrimage up to Lublin, Wisconsin, Michael and Mary's second home in the United States, to visit Michael's grave and find the location of what was their farm. Being there made everything I have learned about them more real then what I could have imagined. I feel now that I can start putting things together and share some of what I have learned either through family stories, oral history, and genealogical research, with other Glinka relatives and hope to learn from them as well. It was a while since I worked on my Glinka files and I thank my cousin, Mary Kopec, of San Antonio, Texas, granddaughter of Michael and Mary, in getting me involved again. Her enthusiasm for learning about the history of our family validated all the work I did since 1997 and gave me the impetus to continue this genealogical journey. I hope that this blog and the information presented in future blogs will pique interest in our other relatives as well.