52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week # 35.

I would like to share the story of a special memory among my cousins.

I had made a geocities site which chronicled the immigration stories we knew of our Terry family. This site was found in an online search, by a man (Mike) who knew he had Terry names in his family, but had been separated from his paternal family as an infant. He did have a little info about his grandparents, but no knowledge of where to search. He was grasping at any straws, and sent me an email.

I was able to connect Mike with a myfamily dot com group, which a bunch of Terry cousins had formed. As we helped him search, he was welcomed as a family member although we had no known common ancestors. We found that he lived in the city where many of the cousins had grown up and we had a lot in common. Through Ancestry we were able to give him some leads as to his Terry ancestors and he took the ball from there. When we had a family reunion, he was there, introducing us to his immediate family. In fact, some of us became "blood brothers and sisters" in a little ceremony. Over a period of years of communicating, he was able to find out more about his father and was able to visit his grave. About that time, Mike shared with us that he was so happy to have been able to pass his family info on to his children and grand children, as he was undergoing cancer treatment and possibly in the last stages of the disease.

We continued our correspondence even as he was at home in hospice, sharing stories and pictures that his family would read to him. Ultimately he passed away at home, and the family contacted our group. A few of the group of extended "family" were able to attend the services, representing all those of us who were scattered all over the country.

We still think of Mike and remember that even while we were helping him with his ancestral search, he was helping us to learn to reach out and love a stranger who became a "blood brother."