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I always had this yearning to find my grandfather. But we had no clue where to go, how to start, what to do. When I was eight years old, I had this overwhelming feeling to learn about my heritage and my identity. There is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know who you are and where you came from. Thank you, and mark. Family is everything to me. I always want to learn more about our ancestors. I always felt close to my great-grandmother because growing up, I was always told about how much I look like her. Then one day I saw her photo. And that's the first time I ever experienced looking at a photo and thinking, "Is that me?" It's crazy that I get a little emotional over it. And she had the brooch on. And I was beside myself because it was a piece of something that I had of my German great-great-grandmother. I want to know how they lived, what they did. Were they like me? Were they not like me? I think that the times where I feel confidence--I want to know where that comes from. I think that times where I feel scared--I want to know, did people in my past experience the same type of thing? And how did they overcome it? It's how they felt, how they worked through the same types of problems that I work through. Through records I read the story of my own grandmother who lost her mother as a child. And that gave me strength because I felt like I wasn't the first person in my line going through such a tragedy. I think I would like to ask them, "How did you do that? What kind of tips can you tell me so I can handle my life?" There was a book being passed down from generations, telling advice given to the family, how they should conduct their life. It has 21 generations, and I cannot even tell you how I felt, knowing that I have so many ancestors watching over me.

I actually feel the energy of those that went before me, providing me guidance along the way. Oh, yeah. So we walked into this huge room and saw all these books. And I said to him, "How on earth am I going to find my grandfather's records here?" And I kind of looked at the figures. And suddenly I saw this thumbprint on the immigration pass. And as I saw that, I felt something really strong.

And I felt like this was my grandfather's thumbprint. And even then I thought, "How do I know this is him?" But I feel that very strongly. And he is guiding this work that he wants me to do.

I went to several cemeteries, and in every one of them, I stood with those ancestors. And I just--you thank them. And you tell them, "Here I am. I'm part of you, and you're part of me."

You've got to see them in your mind's eye as just as real as all the people that surround you in the living world today--people that if you knew them, you would love them. My name is Elvis. Jane. Sharon. Amy. Chris. Dennis. Randall. Sue. Evangeline. Rachel. Madeline. Terry. Shannon. Wendell. We don't just need the names and the dates. Every life has a story. It's up to us to find it. [MUSIC PLAYING]