Priceless By Carol Parker

I am truly amazed at what you will uncover when you are researching your family history. Last month, I told you about my new found relative who showed up on my front door to introduce himself. This month I have to tell you about my cousin’s wife Sandi. Now, I have never met Sandi, and they live in Michigan, but Sandi was willing to jump right in to help me and start gathering pictures and scanning them to me. We spent many a night emailing, trying to identify pictures, correct dates and dig up new information. Sandi and I are turning out to be real “genealogy” friends so when she asked if I would at least add her parents to the family tree I was more than happy to oblige. So, Sandi gave me some names and a few dates and off I went to search. I first went to the familysearch.com website but didn’t find

much there so I went back to the Ancestry.com site and was able to find what I was looking for very easily. The entire process took less than one half hour and I emailed Sandi to tell her mission accomplished. Well, she emailed me back right away and was so happy, and she had been so helpful, that I figured I would see if maybe I couldn’t find her great grandparents, to thank her for all of her help, so off I went to search and it took a little longer than the first time but I was able to find her great grandparents and part of her family line back thru Canada.

I was very excited, but there was quite a bit of information and data to sift thru so I just copied the information and placed it into an email and while I was doing so I noticed that a few of the names looked familiar so I stopped and looked closer and I just could not believe what I was seeing. Her family and my family have some of the same ancestors. I just couldn’t believe it. I was very excited and very happy because I really liked Sandy so I sent off the email and then told her what I had found and then something dawned on me and I started laughing so hard, I just couldn’t stop. I think it took me about an hour to compose myself and after I did I emailed Sandi the following:

Ancestry.com $299.99 a year
Toner for your printer $100.00 a year
Paper for your printer $50.00 a year
Finding out you are related to your cousin’s wife, Unbelievable
Realizing your cousin is related to his wife,
Priceless

And I am still chuckling.

Now, the family lines crossed about 400 years ago, back when the French were settling the Quebec, Canada area and if your ancestors were amongst some of the first to settle this area, you and I are probably related. I just thought it was priceless that someone I have never met, who has helped me so much, could be from the same lineage!!!

So, there it is, stories like this is what keeps me doing genealogy, so if you haven’t gone down to the cafe on a Wednesday night for one of Pat’s genelalogy classes, you really need to. You never know who you may be related to.