I have an uncle who died back in '64. Some say suicide, some say homicide. Who knows, it was a long time ago. There was a lot going on in his life at the time.
Anyhoo, he had two kids by his first wife. They divorced, the ex remarried, and Uncle signed away his parental rights to the new guy (a very nice man, by the way. When the ex-wife passed on too, leaving my cousins orphans, this man raised them in a good home with lots of love). ANYHOO, the family lost touch of these kids, what with all the hulabaloo and drama and whatnot. I've been trying to find them for many years.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch....
A young man contacted me through Ancestry, and said that he believes his mom to be my Uncle's daughter. Er, what? I replied to him that I didn't think so, as I know the names of my two cousins who were Uncle's kids.
My mom has a lot on her plate right now, so I got in touch with my aunt, and presto! Uncle married a second time before he died and had a daughter. Okay....wow, thanks for sharing THAT 50-plus years later.
AND, while I'm corresponding with this young man about his mom, my cousin that I knew about and have been searching for responds to a note I left for her on a genealogy board.
Holy smokes! It's raining first cousins! And first cousins once removed! And their spouses, and step-sibs, and half-sibs, and...and...and...
Whew. My little brain is shot. What a week.
If you didn't understand all that, don't feel alone. A part of me is happy, and a part of me wants to crawl under the couch. Who are all these people?
They seem nice. There's that.
They seem very nice indeed.
Totally off-topic. I was working in my yard this morning. Working hard! I was covered with dirt, my hair was down and sticking out everywhere because it was warm and humid, and I was wearing a a light half-camisol with no bra, soaked with perspiration. No one EVER comes down my road; it's a private road. Safe, right?
ReplyDeleteSo, I look up, and there is my down-the-road neighbor on his ATV, cradling his little dog and looking at me with a grin. He's in his 70s, and is a very sweet guy. He plows my road when it snows, and keeps an eye out on us wimmin folk in the holler.
I must have looked a total fright! I was so frickin' mortified I could have crawled under a rock! I was holding a bottle of tick killer, and had my arms and the bottle covering my near nekkid-ness as best as I could. Oh. My. Gawd. And talk! He talked and talked. Seems he was missing a few chickens and wanted to know if I'd seen them.
Ah, life in the country. I'm glad I could give someone a thrill. At least he didn't roar away screaming in terror. Hahaha!!!
OMG that's hilarious lr!
DeleteIt is now! At the time I was completely and utterly mortified. :)
DeleteWhat? No pictures? Harrumph!
ReplyDeleteYour family stories are fascinating. I think I will do a post on the same general subject.
Pictures would break the internet. SRSLY.
DeleteI saw all the cousins coming out of the woodwork over at FB. Thanks for filling us in on the details. Are any of them close enough to visit?
ReplyDeleteNo. They're all up in the PACNW. However, my other cousins and aunts are also in Oregon/Washington. I'm sure they'll all be getting together soon. For now, I'm just exchanging emails and getting to know them a little.
DeleteIf I'm feeling too overwhelmed, I can always put a Trump 2016 banner on my FB. I have a sneaking suspicion that would clear the room quickly. :))
A very distant cousin found me a few years ago when he was researching his (my!) family. We shared an ancestor a zillion years ago.
ReplyDeleteTurns out we lived in the same area! He worked as a teacher.
Made noises that we would hang out sometime. Never did.
A couple years later he gets fired for dorking a student. Never did catch up with him... ;) kinda put me off the Ancestry trail...
As I said, it is not for the faint of heart.
Delete