Shirley Writes Back  − 25 January, 2008

My mom's cousin who wrote me out of the blue yesterday got my response and herself wrote back this morning. It didn't surprise me to know that she was thrilled to make my acquaintence. In this age, it seems so common that one sends bottles into the ocean. Her message reached me. And likewise, mine, her. And now, it seems, we are pen pals.

I sent my mother and my aunt Shirley's letter yesterday. Mom wrote back and is also eager to know more about that side of the family. This morning, I logged on to Geni.com and whipped out "From Prairie Marble..." to flesh out (sic) as many of the missing relatives as I could find. With what Shirley related to me via email, I was even able to reach over into her family tree and invite her to join. We'll see what becomes of it when we put two heads to the task now, not just one. Why stop there? I also invited mom and Nancy to join and as of this posting, Nancy has joined. So one can only hope we learn more and archive more and begin writing letters and sharing more in time.   

I personally am excited by the prospect of having a new family member to talk with and learn more from. The fact that Shirley's in Zimbabwe makes the prospect no less thrilling. I would love to visit after learning more about her, her family and the way of life she's made for herself and that family line there. In the meantime, we have our words and Geni.com.

Today is a Friday and so far a bright and sunny day here in San Diego. My little experiment with Dandelife has proven very effective as a beacon for serendipitous connections. That makes me proud as an entrepreneur and just downright happy as a lifecaster.

Comments:

edunn (January 27, 2008. 04:50am)

K- I am not even kidding...I have been wanting to find a website to create my family tree in! Thanks! Kyle and I became very into it after going home for Christmas break. Thank you, thank you!

Electronic Goose (January 27, 2008. 11:16pm)

Neat story ... I'm starting to compile a family tree too. I looked into ancestry.com but I don't like the way they lay out the tree. Thanks for the link, and good luck with your new relationship.

jonnybob (January 29, 2008. 03:10am)

How long have you been using Geni, Kelly? Its a great website with an interesting user community. You folks at dandelife could definitely teach them a thing or two about time lines though. lol

kga245 (January 29, 2008. 04:00am)

Ha. I've talked with them about it. They're not interested. Anyway, they're not in the business of timelines. They're in the business of family trees. And they do that damn well.

kga245 (January 29, 2008. 04:02am)

@Electronic Goose - Geni is the way to go. But ancestry.com has public records you can search. Have you found those useful at all?