So far as I know, I'm not related to that Stockdale, the Navy Admiral and former vice presidential candidate. However, I am related to some other cool people, such as my great-grandparents, Ed and Mary Eitelman. That's me in front of Mary (yeah, we're on a first-name basis now), and my brother imitating a loaf of bread in Ed's hands. You're reading this now because I happen to live in Fort Worth, Texas, and in January 2003 I happened upon the web site for the Fairmount South Side Historic District, www.historicfairmount.com. The site serves the Fairmount/South Side neighborhood that's designated as a National Historic District. Ed and Mary Eitelman lived at 1812 College Ave in the heart of this neighborhood. I remember visits there when I was little. On the Fairmount's site Virtual Home Tour, they had a photo and a description of my great-grandparents' house. I wrote to Bill Walton, Director of Promotion for the association, and related a couple of things I remembered about the house, and my great-grandparents. Such as Ed being a blacksmith, that he shod horses, that he mounted horns from longhorns, and that he and Mary were charter members of the McKinney Memorial Church. In fact, the first meetings of the fledgling congregation were held at 1812 College Ave, until they built their own church building in 1958 on Trail Lake Drive in far south ("far" for 1958) Fort Worth. I know. I was there. Bill wrote back and put me in touch with two distant relatives I didn't know I had, Jay Eitelman in Florida and Christine Ingerson Hindle in Germany. We began corresponding via email and I was pleasantly humbled to learn how little I knew about our common ancestry. For example, I knew nothing about "Grumpa", my great-great-grandfather, his children other than Ed, that Eitelman's owned the house next door at 1816 ... and so much more. Thus began what's developed, for me, into a personal passion for learning more about this fascinating family. "Fascinating" is of course a highly subjective label, but to me, it's warranted in this case because these people - my relatives, and perhaps yours - took photos, wrote letters, collected memorabilia and newspaper clippings, and generally left a documented legacy for us. I have enough of a historical perspective to realize the importance of not only uncovering and discovering that legacy, but also of sharing it, preserving it, and building on it for our descendants. The Internet and digital media now allow us to expand each of our own "family attics" such that we can share our treasured photos, artifacts, heirlooms, etc., with each other around the world. That's what this is about, and why I'm here. I'm not a professional web developer, but a B-grade hobbyist, so I'll offer to do what I can. Please check out how you can contribute to the site and add your own material. And of course, comments and suggestions are always welcomed. I hope you find something interesting, something informative, and a reason to keep coming back to participate and contribute. Steven Edward Stockdale