Jordan and I starting doing our family history a few months ago. Since a lot has been done on his side, we have mostly focused on my side of the family. Jordan has taken over my mom's side and I have been working on my dad's side. We signed up for Ancestry.com, talked my parents and grandparents (on my mom's side). My dad's mom was unfortunate enough to not raise him after he was about 2 years old. My dad also found an old letter from one of his aunts that told him he had a half-sister a couple of years older than him and her name was Carolyn. My main focus became to find out what happened to my dad's mom and half-sister as there was a slight possibility his mom might still be alive, and good possibility his sister was alive. Using the little information we had, I was able to find a possible birth record, and two marriage records for Aunt Carolyn. The first marriage was in Los Angeles, not too far from us here in Riverside. As ancestry.com provides indexes, but not certificates, we decided to drive over and have a look at the records to find out more details. We found the certificate for her first marriage and from that, found out her first husband's parents' names. I was able to find them living in Hemet (30 min from us) and found a phone number for them online. They were so nice and gave Aunt Carolyn my number. The next day I got to talk to my Aunt Carolyn for the first time. She is so nice and sweet and excited to be part of our family. Unfortunately my dad is still in Canada picking up Josh from his mission and hasn't been able to talk to her yet. I'm so excited that after nearly 60 years, my dad will get to know his sister. I think she was shocked to learn that she has 6 nephews and 3 nieces. We have all been overwhelming her with information.
Can you see the family resemblance?
I definitely can. We also have two new cousins, Diane and Karen. Diane lives in Chino, so we'll get to meet her soon. We're so glad to know that families are forever and we'll get to meet Karen someday. We're going to have to plan a trip to Wyoming to meet Aunt Carolyn. We can't wait! We love you Aunt Carolyn! Welcome to the family.
Uncle Ed and Aunt Carolyn
Diane and Marty
Karen
7 comments:
I absolutely love this story! So glad you did a post about it with pics...she is definitely family. So proud of you and Jord for getting so into "it". xoxo
Oh, and sorry for the words you heard coming from my mouth as I almost hit the javalina!
That is seriously SOOO neat! I couldn't understand it all on Skype last night because the audio was touch and go. SOOO neat! You have inspired me to get on it with family history.
I am Carolyn's sister-in-law (she is married to my brother), and I couldn't be happier. She has been the best sister for many years and I am so happy for her and you.
I can totally see the resemblance! How wonderful!!!
wowo!! how amazing, keep up the good work!!
WOW! I love this story, what an amazing thing for you to do and find for your family! ♥
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