This is one of the more gratifying aspects of genealogy. I reached out to someone with whom I shared DNA on 23 & me, and it turned out to be a second cousin who had been searching for his birth family. Unfortunately our connection came too late to reunite him with his mother, but some of the older relatives were able to share their memories of her, and of course I was able to fill him in on his lineage going back to Ireland! Thank you for doing this work for this family.
Thanks for sharing the rest of Wiley's story with us, altho it looks like there may be more ahead, given the boxes you now possess. Years ago I made a similar call, and the result was a family reunion no one expected or even knew was possible. I think about their reunion a lot as it provided a daughter with good new memories of her father before he passed. Lots of healing come from that. I've an idea, your intervention resulted in some, as well.
I like to think I helped, and Nancy and her sister seem to view this as a net positive.
I share the story because I suspect that a lot of us feel uneasy about reaching out to strangers, and I think that *most* of the time, it will be a net positive.
This is one of the more gratifying aspects of genealogy. I reached out to someone with whom I shared DNA on 23 & me, and it turned out to be a second cousin who had been searching for his birth family. Unfortunately our connection came too late to reunite him with his mother, but some of the older relatives were able to share their memories of her, and of course I was able to fill him in on his lineage going back to Ireland! Thank you for doing this work for this family.
Thanks for sharing the rest of Wiley's story with us, altho it looks like there may be more ahead, given the boxes you now possess. Years ago I made a similar call, and the result was a family reunion no one expected or even knew was possible. I think about their reunion a lot as it provided a daughter with good new memories of her father before he passed. Lots of healing come from that. I've an idea, your intervention resulted in some, as well.
I like to think I helped, and Nancy and her sister seem to view this as a net positive.
I share the story because I suspect that a lot of us feel uneasy about reaching out to strangers, and I think that *most* of the time, it will be a net positive.
There are so many complicated feelings on those lost. It's a reminder of the importance of healing among the living.
I was a little late to start reading this, but that worked out because I didn't have to wait for part 3 ; )