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RE: Honey Grove, Texas - Haiku - On the joys of research and new family discoveries

in #poetry5 years ago

This! I love every single word. I am struck by the loss of people who can tell the stories behind these old photos - how nice that you've found the one of your grandmother and some info about it. Do you know why she died? The obit mentions that she was chronically ill, I am curious with what.

I am struck too by a feeling of their all still being here, as a reader I went in and out of then and now. The losses, the gains, the tragedies and blessings. So beautifully written.

Parts of this story are very similar to my family's story. My mother lost her mother when she was 18 months, was then shuffled around among relatives who did not want her and were far from kind to her, yet she became a loving and generous mother herself. Her cousin Jane had a similar experience, and for a time they both were "cared for" in an old Victorian house (still in my family although I am the only one fighting to keep it) on a lake in central NYS. I can't bring myself to get rid of old photos of people I do not know, and no one is alive still who would. They probably visited the house on the lake, and I know them there by there presence, if not their names.

Thank you for writing this. I savored every heartfelt word. xo

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Thank you for resteeming this :)

I am so happy I came across it!

Thank you, @owasco, for this lovely comment.

I too have numerous photos, from both sides of my family, of people I never knew, and in many cases, died long before I was born.

I did once find a family tree online for the Ayrer family, which was my paternal grandmother's birth family, and I was able to piece together some information from that, and correct a few mistakes I found. I corresponded with the gentleman who ran it for a time, and sent him a number of photos hoping to put names to the faces, but in that we were unsuccessful.

That said, I have no idea if it is still online, or if the gentleman in question is still with us.

I hope that your holidays have been peaceful and full of love and light. Have a Happy New Year.