Visiting the archives at the public library of your grandparent’s youth

My grandmother spent a few brief but pivotal years in Albuquerque, NM. She has dementia and is nonverbal, and I find myself now more than ever wanting to know more about her early life. It turns out the second floor of the ABQ public library hosts a genealogy center, and there I was able to easily locate her high school year book and city directories with the addresses that she lived at with her parents and, later, my grandfather.

There will inevitably be lost histories when grandparents die, but you never know what was public record from that time that could be meaningful. Hit the library archives, and thank you librarians/volunteers!