How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

For a while now, I was hoping my pop would visit in a dream. I just wanted to have a nod or wink to know he was okay. That he had settled in on the other side. I hoped he had found some peace. Well, this past week while on vacation I had a dream and he came to visit. The details of the dream I am going to keep private but I will mention that my dad was slick. I don't think he wanted me to realize it was him until after I woke up. The gentleman that I saw in the dream appeared to be in his early twenties, young, bright eyed and hopeful. A version of him that I didn't get to see in life. He looked at ease and comfortable with himself. I am grateful for this little wink from him. Thanks, dad. Give a hug and kiss to grandma, grandpa, and aunt Janice for me.

I've featured pictures of my paternal grandfather Harold Murrell Sr. in his National Guard uniform, here on this blog before. If you missed that post, here's the link:  Military and Mappy Monday: Harold Murrell's National Guard Enlistment Card Harold Murrell Sr was a Private First Class for Co. I of the 369th Infantry. I am guessing this is a picture of his company.  Harold Murrell Senior is pictured in the center.

I was seventeen when my father's sister passed away. Janice Elaine Murrell was a beautiful and loving spirit. She had a wonderful sense of humor and she loved to laugh. I explained recently to my kids that sometimes in life you don't get what you need in the shape or form you think it's supposed to come in. My dad was a man who had difficulty opening up with his family. The close father daughter relationship we didn't have. We had a relationship and we loved each other but the bits of nurturing that I wasn't able to get from him, came instead in the shape and form of wonderful grandparents and this beautiful lady, his sister.  Janice Murrell pictured in the foreground.