Usually there is at least one moment when they are touched by what they found out about a certain member of their family. I know for me there are several moments when a certain someone touches me. Amazingly enough it is really not the famous ones, though I have them too. It is the ones that were extraordinary ordinary people. They struggled with daily life as most of us do. They tried to do their best as most of us do.
Lately I have been working on my mom's side of the family. They are a mysterious lot. They peek out on a census and then disappear. They have names like George and Tom and their last name is Smith!
Mom lost track of her brothers after she got married. You must remember when she was a little girl the depression was on and her brothers went to work on WPA projects. World War II further separated the family.
Yesterday I had two moments. I found the headstone of one of her brothers and I finally found the Social Security Death Record of the other.
You might think that this is only a sad tale. Two brothers found only after death. It is NOT. It IS the completion of a desire to have knowledge. Knowledge good or bad about them, her brothers.
This search has brought me closer to my mother than I could ever imagine. Each photo, each scrap of paper has a story and she knows them all. She tells me them has she holds those little pieces of her past with tears in her eyes and a frog in her throat. She tells me about them with a twinkle in her eye and laugh over a good time remembered. She tells me the story that is the fabric of OUR LIVES.
I can not tell you what a blessing it is to still have Mom around, to share my finds with her and my frustrations over another dead end.
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