Genealogy

As you all know, I love blogging. I am not sure if I am much of a photographer though...My true love is writing and story telling. A few years ago, I  also got totally absorbed in genealogy...and I had the most wonderful mentor.  Meet my long time friend Kaye. (shown at her son's recent wedding).

 

Kaye, who is good at many things, is the best genealogist I know, and was helpful in my quest to research my family. She is also a world traveler, and just returned from a Baltic Cruise with her husband Dave, and travel partners Sue and  Tom. Her friend Sue, mentioned when they first started planning the trip, that she would love to go to Poland, and try and find the small village her grandfather immigrated from in 1913. I will try and shorten this...but I just love it!

This set Kaye in motion. She had trouble locating the tiny village, but finally did, only to discover that the last person with that surname passed away in 1995. They all decided they should still find the village anyway. So....

After the cruise, Sue's brother who lives in Italy, joined the four of them in Warsaw. They hired a driver (and interpreter) to drive them over 100 miles, to the very small village of just 35 families. Asking around town ,they were sent from one old timer to another. One finally said the family property was around the corner at #8, where they found a closed gate and barking dogs. A woman  came out and had a big stick, and  told them in broken English, that she had called her husband to come home. After a long twenty min. wait, on the street...here comes the husband.

 

Are you already ahead of me? The guy in the suit coat, is the Polish guy who is Sue's second cousin, . His grandmother and Sue's grandfather were sister and brother. Sue, pictured here with her brother in the orange, shed a lot of tears. A family finally united after 101 years.

Good job Kaye!