My grandmother's parents split when she was 2 and she never knew her father - she only saw him one other time after the divorce (that she recalls). She never knew her half brothers and sisters, or anyone from her father's side, really. Up until this point, his side of the family have just been names...no stories, no memories...nothing.
Today I got an email from my grandmother's cousin (first, once removed?). She is the granddaughter of my great grandfather's eldest sister. She is 77 and lives in Texas and I don't know where she found my email address, but she did. We've exchanged several emails today and I think she is just as excited as I am. She also said she has some photos that she wants to share with me and I'm hoping she is able to do so. She wrote very fondly of her great uncle and with regret about not knowing my grandmother and great grandmother.
My grandfather died in August of 1999 and I'm not sure where he is buried. I've been trying to find out the information on my own and was looking his name up in a cemetery in the city he died in. He wasn't there...but one of his children (my aunt) was. All I've ever known about my aunt Mary is she died in a car accident when she was young. No one in the family really talks about it much - especially my dad. She was closest in age to him, and I believe they were kindred spirits - she was the wild child/rebel in the family and my dad is not a wild child per se, but he is definitely a free thinker and very unlike most of his siblings. I think he was hit hardest (as far as the siblings go) when she died. I had no idea she was buried in the same city my grandfather is buried in. I've requested a photo from Find A Grave...and next time I'm in the area (it's a 3 hour drive from here), I can leave flowers. I'm going to have to ask about my grandfather...perhaps I can leave flowers for two.
Yesterday I decided I would step up and volunteer to find a grave since I've requested several sets of photos and have had success with the site. Hubby and son both went with me to the cemetery, which is very close to our house. Since it was Sunday, there was no one in the office to help us locate the stones, but we figured we'd give it a go. We (wrongly) assumed there would be some rhyme and reason to the plots and that we'd be able to find it with a little work.
Luckily it wasn't too hot. Hubby and I each chose a plot to search and began looking, first for the marker stones, then at the actual headstones. Son ran between us, locating marker stones with glee. I searched an entire plot with no luck - hubby and I were talking to each other on our cell phones and he wasn't having luck either. I started on the next plot and hubby warned me that there were some aggressive blackbirds that seemed to be guarding a tree in the plot. He wasn't kidding - I felt like I was living "The Birds" - they were chip-chip-chipping and dive-bombing me. At one point I turned and one was practically in my face; my scream made hubby laugh. I'm sure the wild waving of my purse was amusing to passersby. I abandoned the plot and met up with hubby and son. We'd been at it for about an hour, and we were all hot and sweaty. I decided to give up and just call today (Monday).
After 3 phone calls, several failed faxes, and a promise to tape a map to the closed office door - we found the stones. As luck would have it, the groundskeeper mowed today and all of the stones were covered in grass. I dug out my snowbrush so I could get as much grass off as I could. It was exciting, not only to help someone out, but because our efforts weren't in vain. I'll be out again on Saturday, looking again.
I am sorely lacking in old family photos. My mom doesn't really have that many and she is estranged from a lot of her family...so I don't know if she'll ever have access to many. I think my grandmother on my dad's side probably has some; I should ask her next time I see her (which is uncertain). I'm not really into collecting things - I hate my husband's packrat behavior - but pictures are an exception I make. I recently obtained some old photos of hubby's family and was absolutely thrilled. As my tree has grown, I've found myself more interested in family history as opposed to compiling a list of names. The names don't seem to matter as much without the tidbits into the lives behind them. Pictures just seem to add to that.
