My name is Leilani M. (Tod) Howard. I'm the only biological daughter of Rodney Curtis Tod and Valerie Ann (Canon) Tod. Granddaughter of George Joseph Tod and Bonnie Frances Lucy Tod on my father's side, and Albert Lum Canon and Ermina Juanita Tobalado Canon Davis, on my mother's side.

However, Ermina and Albert were divorced, and I never really got to know my biological grandfather, only my grandmother's second husband, Wilburn T.C. Davis, who in my later years became like my father after an awful tragic family incident that ripped my entire family apart.

Perhaps, researching, preserving and building my family tree is a way to cope with what happened to my family a tragedy. A way to pull things back together.

This is my second F.G. account only because I cannot access my previous one. I am our family's current genealogy researcher and family historian.

On my father's side, I'm the 6th Great Granddaughter of James Tod and Catherine Forbes Tod. Our family has maintained the ancient spelling of the original "Tod" name for generations.

Ever since I was a young girl and listened to the stories my Grandma Bonnie would share with me, I've questioned the origins of our last name. My Grandmother, and Great Aunt Sonja Tod Holtzclaw would tell me stories of our heritage and from that point I was obsessed with studying ancestry, genealogy and discovering the stories of our family lineage.

Through research I've discovered my grandmother, Bonnie F. Lucy Tod, we are the descendants of Queen Margaret Tudor thru the King James Stewart lineage.

Unfortunately, I have limited knowledge of my mother's Filipino roots, the Canon & Tobalado side. I can only trace as far back to my Great Grandmother's migration to America (Candida Ilang Himodo Tobalada Nandonsa, everything past her is a mystery.

My mission is to continue discover as much of my family history and lineage as possible and share it with my children and future generations.