Thankful Thursday: Thank Goodness I Began My Blog --Part one
Last year on May 30, 2011, I decided once and for all to begin to blog. I wanted this journey that I had been on of discovering my ancestors to mean more than just bits of paper with dates of births, deaths, and census records. I wanted to share with friends and family or anyone who would listen how special all these pieces of information put together truly were. And so I began to write.
In my mind I had a bit of a plan. My maternal line has been absolutely amazing to research with an abundance of information and stories so this made a logical starting point. I shared information about my Morehead City, NC ancestors (Jones/Mitchell/Bryants) first and then moved on to begin talking about my Harrison family line which was from New Bern, NC. At first, I tried to make myself write a blog post everyday. Soon I realized that probably wouldn't be realistic and just concentrated on when I felt the need to jot something down. As I continued to write, I felt good that finally I was getting it out there, our family story.
My mother-in-law sadly passed away on July 30, 2011 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. I posted this information on the blog on July 31. Little did I know at the time what events would follow.
You see we don't realize at times that the Lord is using us as an instrument, a facilitator to make something extraordinary happen. Something grander than you could ever imagine.
September rolls around. I keep writing. Then I believe it was on a weekend at the end of that month, I get a phone call from my sister-in-law. She's very excited and speaking really fast on the phone and so I don't initially get what she's saying to me. And then she takes a deep breathe and slows down so I can understand her better. She says she spoke to a woman from Ireland with such a lovely accent. This woman says that she thinks she has information regarding one of my grandfather Lemuel Harrison's brothers. She found my blog on-line and it seems that there is some sort of connection. This woman had tracked me down through my mother-in-law's obituary. My husband and I have just cell phones and no land line, however my sister-in-law still has a home phone. My sister-in-law's name was in the obituary and via the miracle of the internet, this woman was able to come across a phone number. This Irish lady would like to speak to me, to pass this information on to see if indeed we are talking about the same person. My sister-in-law gives me the lady's telephone number. We finish our call and I hang up feeling a bit dazed and exhilarated at the same time. I think to myself, who is this person? What am I about to find out?
To be continued.......
In my mind I had a bit of a plan. My maternal line has been absolutely amazing to research with an abundance of information and stories so this made a logical starting point. I shared information about my Morehead City, NC ancestors (Jones/Mitchell/Bryants) first and then moved on to begin talking about my Harrison family line which was from New Bern, NC. At first, I tried to make myself write a blog post everyday. Soon I realized that probably wouldn't be realistic and just concentrated on when I felt the need to jot something down. As I continued to write, I felt good that finally I was getting it out there, our family story.
My mother-in-law sadly passed away on July 30, 2011 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. I posted this information on the blog on July 31. Little did I know at the time what events would follow.
You see we don't realize at times that the Lord is using us as an instrument, a facilitator to make something extraordinary happen. Something grander than you could ever imagine.
September rolls around. I keep writing. Then I believe it was on a weekend at the end of that month, I get a phone call from my sister-in-law. She's very excited and speaking really fast on the phone and so I don't initially get what she's saying to me. And then she takes a deep breathe and slows down so I can understand her better. She says she spoke to a woman from Ireland with such a lovely accent. This woman says that she thinks she has information regarding one of my grandfather Lemuel Harrison's brothers. She found my blog on-line and it seems that there is some sort of connection. This woman had tracked me down through my mother-in-law's obituary. My husband and I have just cell phones and no land line, however my sister-in-law still has a home phone. My sister-in-law's name was in the obituary and via the miracle of the internet, this woman was able to come across a phone number. This Irish lady would like to speak to me, to pass this information on to see if indeed we are talking about the same person. My sister-in-law gives me the lady's telephone number. We finish our call and I hang up feeling a bit dazed and exhilarated at the same time. I think to myself, who is this person? What am I about to find out?
To be continued.......
oooh! you have me waiting for more! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhy did you stop there Andrea??? You really have me now, because I want to know more soon!!
ReplyDeleteGreat cliff hanger! Looking for more soon!
ReplyDeleteWhoa! Sounds exciting, can't wait to hear the next chapter.
ReplyDeleteStop teasing us - I can't wait to hear the next part of the story!
ReplyDeleteAndrea, that's very exciting! We are all waiting for you :)
ReplyDeleteGreat news! Your blog is a wonderful example of "cousin bait," attracting the attention of relatives (even in Ireland!) who search for family names and find YOUR blog among the results. Please write more soon!
ReplyDelete