Welcome to Our Family Website

Welcome to our family website. The site has been under construction for six months and we are now ready to share it with family and friends. While the website address carries the Mahony name you will see that we are focused on several families: the Ciccone, Saunders, Kaesemeyer, Rafalowski, Juliano, and Hickey families are all included. For the past six months I’ve been designing and downloading to the site. To be clear this is NOT an exhaustive history of our families as very little research has taken place. Aside from a couple trips to the some local libraries, the content of the site was in the possession of myself and other family members. More extensive research may occur down road but for now think of this as an online scrap book: a compilation of photos, documents, letters, articles, etc. which help to tell our collective story. I’ve been collecting personal and family memorabilia since I was a kid. Over the years the collection began to expand as I became known, unofficially, as the family historian. My parents and siblings began to send me family items (letters, photos, documents, etc.) over the last 10 years. I created three large binders to sort and display these items. The challenge was the significant limitation in sharing the information. My next strategy was to place all the information on DVDs and distribute to the family. Once again, a very one dimensional approach. Six months ago a friend suggested creating a website and here we are. (See the Appreciation section for that story.)

I think you’ll find an impressive array of entries on the site today, but I am convinced that we have only scratched the surface and that there are many more family items still sitting in our homes waiting to be resurrected and shared. Which leads me to one of my key objectives: I hope family members not only enjoy perusing the site but also take the time to submit items that will enhance it. Review the Tips to use Website section and you will see how easy it is to participate.

Like others in my family, I’ve always enjoyed telling stories. I’ve posted a few under the Art’s Stories page. The entries usually deal with being part of a large family, enjoying some great friendships, an occasional scrape with authority, and the consequences of some of the decisions I’ve made (some good, some not so much!). But they are true (mostly) and from the heart.

So, welcome to the our family website. I hope you enjoy your visit and come back often.

Art Mahony

September 2012