How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

I have a computer again. Hooray! And on top of that ...guess what came yesterday in the mail? My 2nd great grand uncle's civil war pension file arrived. What a wonderful surprise. You know I have been reading that thing like it's going out of style in between the kids yelling, Mom this and Mom that. Kids can't you wait just a second...this is genealogy. This is serious business. LOL. Well just as a refresher to who I am talking about, Augustus Whitney was the older brother of Samuel Whitney (b.1856--d.1916) He served with Company D of the 35th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops. Lots of good stuff here. Anyway, I know I said in my last post that I would talk about the parents of Sarah J. Harris Whitney however, in light of recent events I think we will save that post for a later date. I have to get kids to bed but I am so looking forward to writing something about Augustus tomorrow.

Sometimes, I wonder if I ever would have started digging up roots, if I had never seen my great grandmother Ophelia's picture. Ophelia Jones Bryant's portrait I featured in my first blog post. Something has happened recently that makes me ever so thankful that that picture hung in my grandmother Mary's house. Thank you grandma :) Anyway, the good news is the computer is coming! Hopefully by Friday I can get back to writing my regular posts and reading everyone else's on a large screen so my eye balls don't fall out of my head from eye-strain. My next post will probably be about the parents of my 2nd great grandmother Sarah J Harris Whitney. Until then I'd like to close with the words of Don Cornelius,......"and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace, and soul!"

This going without a computer at home is getting old now. It probably won't be here until next week. Ughhh! I like my book reader for reading books, not surfing the internet. Touch screens just don't hack it for me. I like a keyboard, for the mere fact that I could type what I just typed in one try versus typing, stopping to review text, then erasing and re-typing. Oh well. Must have patience. I thought I should take the opportunity to share that my grandfather Lemuel Harrison has been on my mind as of late. I've been thinking about his love of going on cruises. I remember once when I was quite small I went with my family to see him off on one of his adventures. I couldn't believe how large the ship was. We were able to walk my grandparents only to a certain point near the entrance of the boat and so we did just that. We said our goodbyes. Hugs and kisses all around to everybody and off they went up into the ship. My parents and my brother and I walked back down fro...

Yup...my computer crashed on me. (Mumble, mumble, grumble.) Oh well, luckily I had backed things up. Whew! Anyway, this post is just to let you all out there in the blogosphere know that it may be a few days before I am back up and running full speed.

My Grandmother Mary Horton and Me in 1986 or 1987. Man, was I a baby in this picture or what? LOL!

I was 28, working as a Unit Manager at a call center in Upstate NY. The day started off  like any other day. Punched in. Morning coffee. Usual "Morning" or "Hello" to fellow co-workers. Turn computers on. Our center was large and had two TVs on the main floor tuned into CNN news. Something to take your mind off the mundane task of phone collections. Then the first plane hit. First thought in my head, some joker with a Cessna flew his plane too close to the World Trade Center and crashed. When that second plane hit, I like so many knew that we were under attack. From that point on in the day, it felt like I had a five pound weight sitting on my forehead. It was just surreal. I thought about my best friend who lived in Brooklyn and her husband. Where were they that day? I tried to provide comfort to those who knew people who worked at the WTC. While that is going on I am having flashbacks in my head of when I was a kid and when I would visit the Towers myself. My fath...

Please say a prayer tonight for all those being affected by the historical levels of flooding taking place in the Northeast. I tell my friends that it was no accident that my husband and I wound up in the house we live in currently. It was a little over 9 years ago that we made our move from an apartment we shared to our haven on the hill. We had just a month to find it and it was more like it found us. We are not rich. The house is a nice middle class home in working class neighborhood. Great neighbors and close to everything we need. We are blessed that we are safe and dry and at home. So many can't say the same thing. If you read this, just say a little prayer to send comfort and peace to the hearts of those who are suffering tonight. This is a park located at the bottom of our hill. There is a whole neighborhood under water to the left of where this is located. My son's favorite place, Toys R' Us under water.