Success Stories (How I Found Family) - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Elisabeth FAULKNER, aged 120

HollyAdams01 — 2009-11-04 19:10:07Z

This isn't my success story, or indeed much of a story at all, just notification of an interesting record I came across whilst trying (unsuccessfully!) to find a burial record for a family member.

It is for Elisabeth FAULKNER of Hauxton Town, buried on 21 October 1800 at St Leonard's, Shoreditch -- aged 120!

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=1624&...

I don't know if anyone is looking for a research project, but here's a possible place to start: who was Elisabeth FAULKNER?

Re: Thank you roots web...

jmyoung365 — 2009-07-08 07:00:10Z

What a wonderful story. Why not drop a note to the RootsWeb Review Editor so that your story can be shared (if the editor so chooses) with everyone at RootsWeb? The newsletter has many subscribers who would be inspired by your story.

EDITOR-RWR@rootsweb.com

Joan

Thank you roots web...

micadw — 2009-07-08 06:31:07Z

I have looked for my bio dad for years. Ever since I was 16. I found him six months after he died. But the story does not end there. I also found two half sisters that I have come to charish, and a step mom who loves me to pieces. They are sharing thier memories of him with me. I no that my life has played out as it should have. No more wondering if I will get a card in the mailbox or perhaps that stranger passing by could be my father.
Thank you.

Some of the nicest people

bayyore — 2009-02-19 13:50:09Z

are on these boards! I wanted to thank two of the nicest people for going locally where they live to look up things for me. Without them, it would have taken me a few very long trips that I can ill afford right now. Thank you Tom and Witz!

New to Ancestry.com question

demysaid — 2009-01-13 19:03:45Z

Hello,
Glad to be on Ancestry. I'm wondering how accurate are some of the very long lineage's. On a few lines of my family, there is information (little green leaf pops up) from other ancestry trees going all the way back to 1000 a.d. in Wales. Once I started these long lines, each generation leads to another one very quickly. I guess people have done a lot of leg work?

Thanks,
Demian

Re: New to Ancestry.com question

mbmjlm — 2008-12-30 18:36:34Z

Do not believe those lovely, long lineage lines unless you have done the research yourself. This is just the reason there are so many so-called trees out there with absolutely unbelievable data reaching back to royalty and sometimes all the way back to Adam and Eve. Unless you can prove your ancestry back that far, please do not merge or attach those trees to anything of yours. Those trees were more than likely created just that way, by attaching or merging another's tree, and another's, and another's, etc, etc. If you are new to genealogy, be wary and be smart. You will be glad you did. It takes years of research along with as much documentation as you can find and then you will probably never reach the end of the road.

Illegitimacy Success. My great, great gran.

ben1uiihemrt9pmua8t59t4bfslp98bi — 2008-11-28 11:07:50Z

Hi

This is my very own success story on finding the father of an illegitimate child.

My great, great grandmother was born Mary Ann Walder on the 31st December 1863 in Warninglid, in mid Sussex. She was registered under her mums maiden name, who was also Mary Ann Walder. Obviously there was no fathers name on the birth cert. The birth was registered on the 28th January 1864.

In July 1864, Mary had suddenly moved to London as she married a Kent born Servant called Thomas Roberts on the 25th July 1864 in Stoke Newington, London. He was a widower. On the 6th November 1864, the baby was baptised as "Mary Ann Kate, Daughter of Thomas & Mary Ann Roberts". If he admitted paternity in the baptism, I then needed to find his whereabouts in 1861 census to see if he was living near Mary in Sussex at all. I couldnt find him on the 1861 in London.

I eventually found him in the 1861 census living a few miles down the road from Mary in Brighton. He was aged 47, a Servant, born Kent, with wife Esther, and their daughter Ann aged 9. Could they have met in Sussex, Esther died, and they went on to meet in London?

If he was a servant and footman, he probably knew of Mary Ann through work, etc.

I found the death cert of an Esther Roberts in the Dec Quarter 1863 in Brighton. This was at the same time Mary gave birth to her baby girl. This means that Thomas was still married well into his next wifes pregnancy.

I recieved the death cert of Esther. She died on the 14th November 1863 at 19 Viaduct Terrace, Brighton, aged 42, wife of Thomas a Domestic Servant. The Cause of death was very eye catching. It said "Phthisis, years, certified". Phthisis is lung TB, a horrible wasting disease. Mary Ann Walder was 7 months pregnant.

The length of her illness would have given Thomas time to have an affair if he was stressed out about his sick wife. Also, her infection would have been passed on if he was in constant contact with her. Everything just fell into place after that. Esther was really ill and he began his affair with Mary Ann Walder. The illegitimate birth is explained because the fathers wife had only just recently died.

They moved away to London in the early months of 1864 just after the birth, obviously to escape a scandal. They wanted to also escape the heartbreak they left behind so it was a perfect opportunity to make a fresh start after the whole affair issue. Goes to show that a bit of detective work pays dividends.

Ben

Passport Application Database

GordonGrening — 2007-12-29 10:40:11Z

What a great addition to Ancestry.com. I typed in my family name and there was an application for the first wife of one of uncles. She had always been a mystery since they were only married for one year. All I knew was that he had a first wife but not her name. Finding her application and best of all a picture of her was a great surprise. Thank you so much for putting this database on-line.

Great Grandmother

gigiduclos24 — 2007-01-25 21:50:19Z

I found my Grandfather's step-mother. She was only known as Anna, thanks to Ancestry.com I found her full name! He was so shocked that all this time no one knew her name.

Re: Sisters Reunited After 76 years!

whbsbb — 2006-10-09 06:31:57Z

Gosh, what an amazing story. Thanks!

Sisters Reunited After 76 years!

2006-05-29 16:18:54Z

On March 4, 2006 we reunited these two sisters for the first time.

The woman in Snow Hill is me and the man in Kinston is Kenneth Carlyle. Mary Agnes is my half great aunt, my father Henry Grey Fields of Walstonburg, NC's half aunt although they are the same age and she was a sister or half sister to the following now all deceased except for Mary Agnes and Queenie Mae Sutton Mumm:

half sisters and brothers:

Lucille Sutton of Kinston

Sybil Rouse of Caswell Center, Kinston, daughter of Alma and Winfield Rouse

offspring of Fenner Fields of Walstonburg and Appie Clyde Lang of Farmville:

Louise Fields (m. Jamel Bynum) of Walstonburg
Ila Fields (m. Carl McKeel) of Walstonburg
Roland G. Fields (m. Olga Paris) of Walstonburg and ran a store in Walstonburg with
Seth "Grey" Fields (m. Sarah Sawrey) of Walstonburg (my grandfather)
Robert Lang Fields of Walstonburg, later West Virgina
Fenner Fields of Walstonburg, later Virgina
Albert Fields of Walstonburg, later Virgina
3 infants

full sisters and brother:
(offspring of Alma Sutton and Fenner Fields)

Appie "Clyde" Fields
John "Johnny" Ivey Fields
Alma Virginia "Virginia" Fields

You can read the story online at:

http://www.kinston.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTem...

Its on page 1 Section B! Email me if you want the photo from the paper or the photo's from the March 4th reunion in Kinston.

The pic they published of Mary Agnes and Mae with Crystal Syner's daughter was misidentified as Mary Agnes' granddaughter instead of her greatgrandaugher

Not perfect, but a good story. They used a lot of the info I sent them!

Enjoy!

Debbie Fields Murphy
Snow Hill, NC

Re: Looking to interview female genealogists

epochron1 — 2006-01-30 17:00:22Z

I have a story which is very exciting to me. In the embryonic stage of genealogy I sent for naturalization papers of my Grandfather and discovered that he had left a daughter behind. Those that came over were very private about lives lived in Sicily. It is something that was discovered and having no previous knowledge of an Aunt Grazia Vinci I proceeded to try and locate any remaining members of that family with only the aid of a photograph of 4 young girls, circa 1930's.
Two of those girls are still alive, they are cousins I never knew, and I am now corresponding with their son's and planning to visit them in the Spring. One of the son's originally responded saying that his mother was moved to tears upon receiving the letter of query. I had sent the photo to various families in the small village town of Sortino, Syracusa that they originated from. Elizabeth

Re: Thank you to Ancestry.com for helping find my family.

2005-09-26 02:26:41Z

Julie,
what other surnames besides Cains are you looking
for i have some of those in my Parsley line. I am wondering if you have any Parsley's in your line also
that might have married a Cain. Cause there is some
Parsley's in Oregon that i know.
Betty

Re: Thank you to Ancestry.com for helping find my family.

2005-09-26 02:23:07Z

Julie, i am so happy you found your dad's family,
Ancestry.com is a good helpful site for people
to go to fine help. I know that i have had wonderful
help from this site and from their sister site rootsweb.com also.
There are alot of good people on these sites that will
help you out even though they do not know you, and
i am proud to see that other people appreciate them
also cause i wish i had done what you do and thank
them for helping me fine my Parsley hertiage and Nuttall family just wish some of the Moore's and Phillips would come out of the woodworks. I know
they has to be some of them out there.

Betty

Re: Success!!

Oliviaclare1 — 2005-09-24 15:34:14Z

Wonderful report, Robert. Congratulations!

Re: Many happy returns

Oliviaclare1 — 2005-09-24 15:34:14Z

I agree. It is a great site and I am very grateful for all the successes I have had.

I found my family with the help of Ancestry.com

2005-09-24 04:14:28Z

I'd like to say thank you to Ancestry.com for helping me to find my family.

My father died when I was 2 and I never met my father's side of the family. After he died, we lost contact with that side of my family and eventually the years passed without contact. I tried looking for them through the years, but without luck. Then I came here before I graduated from college and posted a plea for help in finding my family. Various generous people tried helping me, but little came of it. I eventually went on with life and forgot about that post.

One day this year I got a call from my uncle (my father's younger brother). His son (my cousin) had found that post and showed it to him. He'd done a search to find my phone number and tracked me down. He said, "We've been looking for you."

I couldn't believe how things connected in order for us to find each other. If this had not been here, I know I couldn't have done it myself.

We had a big family reunion on the 4th of July weekend and I got a chance to meet my grandfather, aunts and uncles and many cousins. There are still more relatives I have yet to meet, but I can't wait.

Thank you again for being such a big part in my search.

Julie Kennedy
Oregon

Thank you to Ancestry.com for helping find my family.

2005-09-24 04:06:50Z

I posted a message on this board about 3 years ago to find my grandparents. My father died when I was 2 and I had never met any of his family. I spent my life in question of where I came from. I did have a loving family on my mom's side, but I always wanted to know my father's family. Before I graduated from college, I posted a plee on this board and I'm happy to say that it resulted in a family reunion. It was a serious of happenstance as I call it. One of my cousins was searching the net and found that post, asked his dad (my uncle) about his late uncle. They printed off the letter and began a search for my phone number. One day I got a call from my uncle and once we'd confirmed our information, he said, "Oh, we've been looking for you." We ended up having a family reunion on the 4th of July weekend of this year and it went very well. I am now blessed with more aunts and uncles and cousins. I am very happy and grateful for this site for being such a big part in making this happen.

Thank you Ancestry.com and everyone who tried to help me in my search.

Julie Kennedy
Oregon

Re: Success!!

VickiThauvin59 — 2005-08-14 22:23:41Z

Robert,
Great story!

Info "Lightning" struck twice!!

SandraMcGraw58 — 2005-06-26 22:00:54Z

4 years ago I posted a message on the Mills bulletin
board looking for info on my grdfather and got an answer from
a lady in Boston who wrote a genealogy on his line which went back to the 1600's in Conn. just across the river from my home!!! Now, one more message on the Mills b.b. finds me my grdfathers brother's descendants! These bulletin boards really help but it may take a few weeks. Now with more info I can find the place where my grdfather died so I can fill in that final piece of the puzzle. Many thanks to these
bulletin boards and the nice people who read them, not to mention the cousins I found.

Re: Found my pre-Chicago fire family!

jlivingston2007 — 2005-05-03 14:20:12Z

Cynthia,
Did you ever publish that pre-fire Chicago research website and if so, what is the web address?

Thanks,
Jenn

Re: Obiltschnig family name

wonnie — 2005-04-18 20:07:42Z

Hi Robin

In response to the Obiltschnig Family. I remember my dad's cousins living in Simcoe Ontario, Canada. Their names were,Joe Ratz and Gustal Ratz. We visited them in 1950. I have no idea on which side the family is related. I am wondering if you know any Ratz family relatives whom lived in Simcoe around this time period. My dad was Joseph Oschegger. His family is from Matschach, Austria. His mother was Katherine Obiltschnig. My grandfather was Valentin Oschegger. Robert Marshall is my first cousin's son. Debbie is my niece.
Thanks for any information
Yvonne Oschegger-Venaas

Thank You Ancestry For Finding My Long Lost Sister Robin!!!

2005-02-08 11:26:05Z

Thank you Ancestry.com for finding my Sister Robin Elaine Passno After 43yrs the first post i used was spotted by robins youngest sister Lisa Passno Yes Lord Thank You for this wonderful web sight my sister Robin is Flying here to California on the 31st to be reunited with me OMG my surch is over now i have my baby sister back Robin is 15months younger than me im the oldest wow i have hunted all my life for her even paid companies to find her and i had no luck so i tryed with this ancestry.com and now ive finaly found her
again thank you
Ancestry.com you saved our life!!
Teri/Tari Lynn Sheffield/Davis) DeMario

Thank you Thank you

karenmkraemer011265 — 2005-01-26 03:48:35Z

I would like to thank Ancestry.com for helping the son I gave up for adoption 19 years ago find me.

Thanks to you...he had a first name.....and a year my grandfather died, and was able to use that to find a link to a family tree that had a email address on it. That address belong to me. It took my son 2 hours of searching Thanks to you and now he is back to being a big part of my life.

found my brother

delighted9 — 2005-01-23 16:54:04Z

after my brother and I were seperated at the age 0f 2 and 4 and given up for adoption to different families.to long of story but going on line at ancestry .com in 4 days I located him best research web site there is thank you so much--there is hope for the rest of you.

Re: Thank You Ancestry And Lisa !! For Finding My Long Lost Sister Robin!!!

2005-01-22 04:05:42Z

I Also Want to thank Lisa Passno for being here a member of ancestry.com and finding my post and contacting me i now have another little sister to add to my tree and many neices and nephews s well i am so happy we have found each other after all these years I love you Lisa!!!!! you big Sister Teri/Tari Lynn Sheffield/Davis DeMario

Re: Podhajski

2004-12-13 18:29:56Z

I am looking for info on PODHAJSKI. My great grandfather was Stanislaw Podhajski sometimes spelled PODCHAJSKI. He had two sons: Jozef (my grandfather) and Michael. They both came to the US. He also had daughters: Josephine, Victoria, and Theresa. They all remained in Poland in the Suwalki area as far as I know.
Do you have any info on this surname or any of the names above? Please let me know.
Lisa

Re: Success!! Keida, Piasecki

2004-12-10 16:48:38Z

I think I might have the info you our looking for. My grandfather was Julian Piasecki, my father was Stanley Piasecki.

Re: Success!! Keida, Piasecki

2004-12-08 06:47:15Z

Also interested in Podhajsky family. Send me an e-mail.

Re: Obiltschnig family name

MyDrummerGirl — 2004-12-02 21:48:30Z

Hello Bob,

I too am related to Robert Marshall, we are related in more ways than one, his grandfather and my grandmother on the Marshall side are brother and sister, they married a brother and sister the Oschegger-Obiltschnig side. So anything you have to say of these names is of great interest to Robert and I. We have been researching the family way before computers were used.

I guess according to Robert we are possibly related, this is great news.

smiles,
a possible distant cousin.

Deborah Fink

Re: Obiltschnig family name

2004-11-10 20:48:48Z

The name as spelled, "Obiltscnig", is actually the Germanized form of the original, "Obilcnik". I have yet to get a clear story of the "rift" between the family in that part of "Slovenish Austria". I suspect it could have something to do with the conflicts between the Germanic force moving Southward and the Slovenish moving Northward. I understand that there was severe conflict between the two factions around the River Drau going into the 1950's when Austria became an independant entity. I find that the more I travel back to that territory, the more the local people and relatives "open up" to me. I find it fascinating and also appreciate now the way people still cling to their "tribal identities". I suppose we in America have become "homogenized".

Brick Wall Shattered

jackloocke — 2004-10-28 06:06:43Z

After over 30 years of searching, I have finally found my great grandfather Jesse Lock, thanks to Ancestry.com's every name census indexes. Genealogy has been one of my hobbies for most of my life, and I have been successful in finding records on many of my ancestors. I always hit a brick wall, however, when it came to finding any records on my paternal great grandfather. All I had was stories that had been passed down through the family, and one obituary which mentioned him. I have spent countless hours looking in libraries and on the internet, but I never found anything I could definitely tie to him until October 18, 2004, when I discovered that Ancestry.com now had every name indexes to most of the US census records, rather than simply head of household indexes. Within a few minutes of starting to search, I not only found my great grandfather, but his parents and five siblings as well. This is a dream come true, and I owe it all to Ancestry.com. My advice to anyone who has hit a brick wall in their genealogical research is NEVER GIVE UP!

found nephew

2004-10-14 17:43:46Z

I was reading the message boards When I came across a message that a girl my brother use to date 35 years ago was looking for him.I responded to the message and I found out my brother had a son.We all had a wonderful reunite and still keep in touch.

Lesson in Sharing

sdholland68 — 2004-09-14 20:58:20Z

For about 9 years I had been searching for children of John G Derrick who is my great uncle. He was born in SC/GA and then came to Henry County, GA with his parents as a very young child. A very dear person in Laredo Texas took a chance that her John M Morgan, b GA and my John M Morgan who is son of John G Derrick, were the same person and asked. What a great gift. He was. Now on 23 Oct 2004 there will be a dedication of Civil War Grave Markers made at the cemetery where John G. and his two brothers are buried. I hope to encourage this wonderful person to attend for this service.
Please do not be afraid to share, ask and keep asking. It really pays off. Thanks so much "norma"

thankyou

2004-08-30 15:00:22Z

thankyou Ancestry my message and all my dreams have been answered. My long lost sister found me at last!

This is not such a big find, but I was able to find my old friend...

2004-08-28 06:50:22Z

Well, this find was not as big as other people's success stories. Actually some of the other success stories are wilder than any movie I've seen. It's pretty amazing. Oh yes, but like I was saying... I was able to find my friend from high school on a website www.rstnl.com. The website showed me that he had been looking for me earlier. I kind of knew where he lived and had gotten a telephone number of his from another website like Yahoo or something, but I never knew if he wanted me to call him because we kind of ended our friendship due to an argument. But, at the website I mention above, you are able to let people know that you have been searching for them and you can leave your email address for them if they themselves visit the site later. Really kind of interesting. Anyhows, so I got his email address and I contacted him and everything was all fine afterwards. It's funny because we grew up in Maryland, but it turns out that we both live in the NYC area now. What's even stranger is that we both work in Manhattan and actually work only maybe 20 blocks away from each other. So, needless to say we have met lots of times since. I guess I really shouldn't have let so much time pass until I started looking for him, but I am glad that I found him. But, yeah, that's my story.

Re: Looking to interview female genealogists

joyceee722 — 2004-07-21 19:28:52Z

elizabeth !
this is wonderful news.!
havent heard from u in a long time.. we spoke long ago when i posted abou myVillarosa - Vinci search.
Tell me , did u find out if u are related to my grandmother Sebastiana Vinci.. Sortino/ Siracusa area.
hoping to hear back from u soon! want to hear all about this!!
xo joy

Re: Obiltschnig family name

2004-07-10 18:05:43Z

In response to the discussion of the Obiltschnig family name, specifically that initiated by Robert Marshall:
My grandmother's maiden name was Obiltschnig - she was from a town in Southern Austria near Villach. My father and I have traveled to this town several times over the past few years and have spent a great deal of time with other Obiltschnigs related to us, learning about family history (and the fact that the Obiltschnigs are actually really Slovenish, not truly Austrian). Apparently, I also have a distant cousin living in Toronto. It would be interesting to hear from any other Obiltschnigs out there to see if there are any connections.

thank you

2004-06-13 21:07:04Z

I would like to thank everyone who helped me locate my birthmother and sibblings. I found my mother 2 days ago and she was very excited to hear from me. The search wouldn't have been possible without your help. ( except for the person who emailed me and told me she was a friend of my mothers and she was dead).

Re: Heart Warming Stories

2004-06-03 19:39:59Z

Paula, trying to contact you regarding "Marcott" relatives. My grandfather: Louie...GG..Leander....GGG..Mathias...GGGG..Jacques Marcotte.

Heart Warming Stories

paulinephillips58 — 2004-03-03 04:46:27Z

It is so nice to hear stories of relations being reunited after being apart for years, My story is sad that my mum and dad divorced when I was a young child. I later found out that my dad had died at the age of 49 but even sadder when I found out today that he died alone after I spent 20 years trying to find him. Yes the Internet Is very useful for research and finding people but too late for me. However I wish all the people who have been reunited lots of luck and that they never lose track again

Re: Success Stories

2004-02-10 04:27:35Z

I posted a message on here a number of years ago about my grandfather Fred Kelly (aka: Kelley), (aka: Dalin Kalinov and Nikola Kalinov). My grandfather came to this country in the 1890s when he was in his early teens. He never had contact again with his family in Bulgaria until after World War 2. After a few years of letters going back and forth he lost contact with them again. He always told his kids he was from Bulgaria and that he had left a wife in the Bulgaria that refused to come to this country when he asked her to join him. He later wrote a letter to a priest in his home village telling the priest his wife could have her freedom. The wife died just before World War 1. One of my Aunts had some letters that he had recieved from his family in Bulgaria. I had the letters translated and began an internet search here on Ancestry.Com. Last year, (2003) a reporter with a Bulgarian Newspaper contacted me and put me in touch with my grandfathers Niece, Great Niece, and Nephew and I have been talking with them by e-mail since 2003. I never thought I would find anyone especially since it had been 50 + years since my grandfather had contact with them. My grandfather died 40 years ago. I think he would be astounded that I was able to find his family with a reporters help and be shocked that Bulgaria is a democracy today after spending so many years ruled by the Soviet Communist Party that closed everything to the Western World.

Re: search for 1/2 sister

buxman1 — 2004-01-30 23:09:49Z

Sister has been found

Re: Success!! Keida, Piasecki

2004-01-29 14:40:29Z

I am interested in the name PODHAJKI.
Do you have info on this name?

Please email me.

Lisa

We Found Her! Merry Christmas to us!

2004-01-21 18:39:00Z

Just wanted to thank everyone involved in assisting us to find her. Our mother/grandmother, Florence Gibson Hopson, is alive and has lived very close by all these years. It is a wonderful miracle that we have found each other. What a wonderful christmas gift for all of us. We thank God for his blessings on this family that we have found her before it was too late. Unfotunately it was too late to have met her son, he passed away in 2000. But we can meet his children and wife that he has left behind. I wish you all luck in finding the information that you seek. But as you see here miracles can happen. It has been 58 years since my father last seen his mother. Now we can take our last few years together and make memories from them.

Re: I want to thank all who have help me with the search to find my family after 23 years of searching ! THANK-YOU!

2004-01-18 20:44:52Z

Robin, I'm in MA. I know you got in touch with me before and I was unable to help you. Tell me what you found out and maybe I can be of more assistance.

Sue

search for 1/2 sister

buxman1 — 2003-10-24 00:46:42Z

Searching for Ann
Her maiden name was Anna Belle Woodman

Re: Success!! Keida, Piasecki

janebarczak — 2003-09-21 02:05:44Z

Are these name of interest to you? Piasecki, Podhajski, Kazar,Junewicz, Keida.

Many happy returns

SylviaDiane — 2003-07-27 23:50:32Z

After 20 years of genealogy research, I say thanks to Ancestry.com for many successful hits. The census has been particularly helpful, but I have found other info and leads too. One must realize also that all cannot be at your finger tips. There is still foot work to do. It has been a joy to be able to search in the comfort of home - and the subscription has been well worth the money with many happy returns.

Re: Looking to interview female genealogists

stewartdor1 — 2003-07-13 02:06:38Z

I started my family search in 1989 and found the passenger list for my g-g-grandfather which showed he came from Bavaria. In the late 1990's I became aware of www.familysearch.com and learned my g-g-grandfather was baptized in Ramberg and his parents were married in Annweiler. In the past year after reviewing the actual records from these towns, I discovered that my ancestors did not live in either of these towns; instead, they were from a small nearby hamlet known as Grafenhausen. (My g-g- grandfather was baptized in Ramberg and his parents were married in Annweiler). I belong to a Bavarian genealogical group and many months ago read an e-mail from a woman in South Africa who wrote about her father who left Grafenhausen before World War II. I responded to her e-mail and since then we have become great friends with weekly e-mails to each other between South Africa and the USA. I also have been in touch with many new-found relatives from St. Louis, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Texas.