At the end of summer, my husband, Scott, and I were planning our trip to New Orleans to attend The American Legion’s National Convention. As we were so close to Texas where his son’s family lives, we decided to make a two-week road trip and visit them. As we initiated our plans, we realized this would also be a good opportunity to catch up with some family members we hadn’t seen or met. Some were found through our genealogy research and others were just family members we hadn’t met.
This trip was so much fun! We first drove to Texas City, Texas and connected with some of Scott’s cousins from his maternal line. It was such great fun to meet the twins, Julie & Julianna and Julianna’s husband, Robert. While their lives were not a bed of roses, they have managed to overcome the challenges and create meaningful lives for themselves. The getting to know each other and learning all the cool things that we had in common was cool. It was a great visit.
Our next stop was Killeen, where we visited with Scott’s daughter-in-law, Anna, and grandson, Ryatt. His brother, Robert, and his wife, Mary, also live in the area. We were able to visit a couple of times will all of them. On Sunday, we met my cousin (2nd cousin 1x removed), Bill & his wife Martha. As it was a Sunday, we attended church services with them and were welcomed by their church family. We spent some time afterwards talking about our common ancestor who happens to be a brick wall ancestor and getting to know each other.
As we traveled to Abilene, we met one of Scott’s sisters, Charlie. She had a remembrance painting done on a ceiling tile for her VFW post recognizing their father’s service in WWII. He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. She also did a duplicate painting for Scott to bring home and had a nice recognition ceremony and meal. It was great time!
Next, we drove to Wichita, Kansas to see my maternal uncle, Bud & his wife, Carrol. They invited us to meet for lunch at a beautiful local restaurant. I was able to share many of the photos that Mark and I have been scanning and labeling on my iPad. They were amazed. They hadn’t seen a lot of the pictures and it brought back a lot of memories for them.
Our last visit was in Eufaula, Oklahoma where we met my aunt Sonya and her husband, Walt. Bonus… Their daughter, Janelle, was visiting at the time. It was great talking with them and sharing the family pictures. Aunt Sony also shares a love for quilting and sewing, so we had a great conversation and I was able to admire her impressive collection.
There were just so many new memories made during this trip that I can hardly tell you how excited I am to have gone on this journey. So, when you are find new living relatives in your tree, take the time to reach out to them through phone, email, or a visit. You never know where the journey might lead and stories that you might hear.