Sunday, November 30, 2014

Cousins are keepers of TREASURE!

I have a niece-in-law through my ex-husband's family line, who is about 10 years older than my eldest daughter, i.e., they're first cousins. They're very close, have even lived together at various times. I see her now and then, maybe two or three times a year, friendly, sociable, busy, travels a lot.

At one of my granddaughters' birthday, her 13th [milestones racing by], we began talking about my favourite topic, genealogy. Oh, you guessed that already?? Yes, this niece-in-law is one of those on all sides of the family who actually reads and comments on my genealogy posts, particularly those 52 Ancestors/52 Weeks blogs about the LEWIS-RICE line, her line. I try to make certain that I feature ancestors on both sides of my kids' family lines.  Fairness rules.

Chatting along, I wondered aloud how disappointing it was that my ex had no photos of his mother when she was younger, or her siblings, and none of his father, grandparents, etc. on that side. And I wondered if she might have seen any, since her father did photography as a profession for some years...? Just wondering...

"Sure, I have lots of them.  His father's whole family, all the kids. There's one with Isaac and all the kids. Yeah.  And one of Jack & Bill's parents, and..."

I gasped and stared at her. I was so excited I almost spilled my wine [a very nice Malbec, from S.America].

"Oh. I guess you didn't know, eh?"  She made a face. "We need to get together then. I've got all sorts of photos, letters, journals, stuff. In a trunk. I don't know why I didn't think of it before...  Hmmm, I thought you had already seen these."  

My eldest daughter chimed in that she wanted to see these too, and would be very happy to help. All cell phones were pulled out, calendars consulted, a date picked.

We have a date in a little over a week, for the three of us to go digging in this trunk, sort out what we find, and I'll be taking bundles back home to scan here.

I suspect my scanner will be running every day possible until I get all these treasures copied and organized on my computer. Won't it be fun to be able to go through them, see all those new-to-me people?  And new to my own 4 kids as well. Treasures.

I teach beginners to always take note of the eldest child or eldest daughter in families when looking for momentos or photographs - they often hold the family treasures... and here I'd forgotten to check with this daughter of the eldest son (my ex was his younger brother).

Yup, she has the treasures. And soon, I will have copies. Can't wait. I'm so excited!!


6 comments:

Jo Henn said...

How wonderful! I'm jealous-- I've no photos on my dad's side. Have loads of fun!

Celia Lewis said...

Thanks, Jo! I can scarcely wait! All the people on my ex-husband's side are unknown faces to me, except for his mother, whom I met and knew for about 10 years before she died. I have lots of names and dates, no images. And to think there are letters and other memorabilia... Wow. Thanks for commenting!

Jana Iverson Last said...

Oh! How exciting for you! Congratulations!

Celia Lewis said...

I know!! Isn't this wonderful? I'm excited even without knowing what I'll find in that trunk! My kids will be totally gobsmacked at seeing photos of their LEWIS-RICE relatives, I'm sure. Thanks for commenting, Jana. :)

Janice said...

Isn't that amazing! Enjoy your new discoveries!

I had the experience of an elderly cousin who told me, while chatting on the phone, that she had possession of the scrapbook of my great-grandmother! Some stuff dated from the 1860s - well this was just fantastic! So she actually sent it to me and I got a lot of genealogical info from it, scanned many of the items in the book, and am keeping it safe. I feel so honored that she entrusted it to me.

Hazel said...

Nice blogg post

Welcome!

Family, friends, and others - I hope you enjoy these pages about our ancestors and their lives. Genealogy has become somewhat of an obsession, more than a hobby, and definitely a wonderful mystery to dig into and discover. Enjoy my writing, and contact me at celia.winky at gmail dot com if you have anything to add to the stories. ... Celia Lewis