I am Susanne M. Millar, born Susanne Elizabeth McDonell, in San Francisco, CA on April 4th, 1968 (the same unhappy day that MLK was shot). I was born at Letterman Hospital on the SF Presidio which no longer exists. My father, now retired Col. Michael G. McDonell, was serving a tour of duty in Vietnam for my birth. My mother, Sharon Ahl, wouldn’t go to the recovery room until a Red Cross nurse brought her a phone to call Vietnam and tell her husband that he had a baby girl.

While I am currently a Domestic Engineer (stay-at-home Mom) my career BK (before kids) was in software development for a company that was eventually called Broderbund. My key contributions over a seven year period were towards the genealogy software product called Family Tree Maker http://www.familytreemaker.com/ which is now owned by a different company. I therefore find GreatLifeStories.com a fascinating project.

I am ecstatically married to the man of my dreams, Keith V. Millar, born in Toronto, Canada on Nov 18, 1963 and we have two daughters – Rachel 4 ½ years old (born March 29, 2002) and Samantha 6 years old (born Oct 2, 2000).

While my life is wildly exciting, it is really more the life of my family that merits any story telling. I tell stories about my Dad and Brother that keep dinner guests riveted by the hour (uhh…at least…I think so).

In the photo, the Millar family gets together for a reunion. (Susanne M. Millar is at center, wearing a necklace and tank top.)
My family is a network of bewildering relationships, fun, understanding and love.
My parents divorced after 15 years of marriage, but they are still the best of friends and talk every week. My step-mom is 17 years younger than my dad and only nine years older than me.
My dad had kids with his second wife, and he was 52 when they were born. They were born on my birthday, so I have a brother and sister (twins) who are exactly 29 years younger than me and my brother. My maternal uncle and aunt are the godparents of my dad’s twins with his second wife.
My mom reminds my dad to get his wife (my step-mom) a Mother’s Day gift. She takes her ex-husband’s 86-year-old mother grocery shopping every week.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on my family story!

Anyhow, Mike Brozda asked for a ½ of a page to start this off so I’ll just end it here. Attached to this document is a copy of an article I wrote to the Mercury News about my family. It was published in the San Jose Mercury News on June 15, 2005. It will give you a small peak into my wild, weird, wonderful family.

- Susanne M. Millar