Family

Family is a strange thing.

One comes into the world

as part of a family

and,

if one is lucky,

one leaves the world 

the same way.

We don't get to chose

which  family we join

and,

if we are lucky,

or maybe if our family is lucky,

we don't get to choose

when we leave them.

With this as my intro

I must tell you

that in this last week

I have received

several marriage licenses,

birth and death records

and  wills

for different members

of my family.

I feel so connected

to each one of them.

It makes me wonder

whose genes

are on the DNA strand

I was blessed with.

I always smile

a sad smile,

when I see 

my Grandpa Winegardner's 

mother's name.

She only lived 

a few months after his birth 

All I know about her

is her name,

Caroline A Graham Searight Winegardner

(talk about a mouthful)

and that,

on one census,

it states that Grandpa's mom

was born in Michigan. 

I was hoping I could get

a death certificate

on her and,

perhaps,

find out a parents' name

or birth state.

But,

alas,

the birth and death records

for Cass County

only go back to 1882

and she died in1879.

Poor thing . . . 

it's like she didn't exist.

 There is a marriage license,

and I did receive a copy of it,

but nothing else.

I hope that I have 

a lot of her

on my DNA double helix.

Then,

there is my great-great Grandma Snell.

I received her Last Will and Testament.

It was typed out,

which was a surprise.

Grandpa Gaumer's was typed,

but it was from1953.

All of the others

were hand written.

But, I digress.

I had read Grandma's Will

several times when

I noticed her name read

Phebe A. X Snell.

Above the X was the word "her"

and below the X was the word "mark."

To think that she couldn't write

her own name.

I wonder 

how many of her descendants

besides my brother,

his oldest son

and I

are college grads.

Perhaps,

that is her legacy . . . 

a family that values education.

I wonder if her son-in-law,

great-Grandpa Gaumer,

knew something.

In his will he mentions his 

"blond wife."

He also says that if she 

remarries after his death

that she would lose 

her inheritance.

Strange, huh?

She then petitioned the court

to treat the will 

as if it hadn't been written

(or something like that . . .

I don't understand all those 

legal terms)

and the court agreed with her.

My aunt told me once

that I looked like

Great Grandma Gaumer.

Then she tells me

that she lived with a man

she knew as "Tony"

and wasn't sure

if they were married.

I have found 1 husband,

and his name wasn't

Anthony or Tony.

And she filed a lawsuit

against her in laws

for failure to share

 great-Grandpa Gaumer's

share of his family's farm

with their children . . .

but her name was Zimmerman,

not Bechdol,

which was her name when

she died.

Now THAT

sounds like it there 

could have been

quite a family story in that.

And then there 

is my Grandma Pearl.

We grew up in her home. 

Now, I find out

her grandfather was

born in Scotland 

and immigrated here 

AND

she had two sisters

that I never heard about.

Wonder what ever happened there.

This is the Grandma

who taught me to crochet.

So I know her genes

run rampant in my DNA.

I have friends who say

that she scared them 

when they came over.

She died when I was in

4th grade . . . and was in her 

mid-70's when  she died

so, I suppose I would have been

irritated by 10 year olds too.

(Come to think of it,

there were a lot of times 

when I taught school,

that I was irritated 

with 11 and12 year old.)

While working on 

this Family Tree of mine

I have found that 

a lot of my ancestors had

rather long lives

for the time period that they lived. 

With finger crossed

I am hoping that this gene,

for longevity,

is nestled somewhere

on my double helix.

 

Signed,
Wonder What Else Will Fall Out Of My Tree