This may be long, but interesting

[KayLR]

Something remarkable has happened to me and I've decided to share it here.

Some context: My maternal grandmother died when my mom was 15 months old. She was only 20. This was 1927. My grandfather had married her in a shotgun wedding. After she died, he brought my mom down to the town where he'd been working and boarded her with a couple and their young daughter. When my mother was 7, my grandfather married the daughter of this couple, but they had no more children. I knew this family as "grandma & grandpa" my whole life as we never met any of my mother's true family. They were never talked about.

Forward decades later to the present. My DH and I moved 2hr north of my & my mom's hometown in 2023 to be closer to daughter's family. I did not know one person in this town or know of any connections.

Ok, my DH & I decided to take a couple days day trip north to an area of Washington neither of us had seen, and since it was on our way we decided to go see my grandmother's grave. I was looking at the find-a-grave website for her listing when I caught a glimpse of her brother's gravesite.....in the very town we' d moved to!! I was shocked. I had no idea there was any family connection there!

Well, further digging revealed many cousins, and to cut to the chase, we have connected! There are 2 second cousins my age who've met with me many times for coffee & we've been to each other's houses. Their grandfather was my grandmother's brother. They tell me he spoke of her often as his favorite sister. They've filled in a lot of empty spaces in the family history and best of all, they are lovely humans. They're almost sisters like to me. They've gifted me with the most beautiful photo of my grandmother that none of my family has ever seen.

Oh, and their brother is a former Seattle Seahawk.🤗

I find this incredible. To go from stranger in town to local family has been a real joy.

Hope this hasn't bored you to death. Thanks for reading!

[iris lilies]

Not boring. Lovely!
l what did your 20-year-old grandmother die of? do they know?

[KayLR]

Not boring. Lovely!
l what did your 20-year-old grandmother die of? do they know?

Kidney failure associated with recent pregnancy is what her death certificate says.

I should add that these cousins were quite emotional when we met. They said their family had always wondered whether my mom had a good life and was treated well.

It's so strange. Our families never connected. I suspect my grandfather preferred that (and was not likely too welcome up there), plus the Depression was in there too.

[Tybee]

What an amazing and wonderful story!!

[catherine]

So awesome! Congratulations on your expanded family!

[early morning]

KayLR, what an awesome thing that is!

[Tradd]

That is amazing.

[Rogar]

A nice story. I'm sometimes amazed at what a small world it is and the coincidence of people we find along the way.

I had a second cousin I was pretty close to and he had some interesting stories about earlier generations of the not too distant family. I get routine updates from Ancestry after my DNA analysis and often they have connections to 3rd cousins. None of them have sounded familiar from family stories. I've imagined that by the time you get to third or fourth cousins it's getting a little too remote.

[KayLR]

Luckily these 2 I've connected with were very close to their grandfather, spending lots of time on his place listening to the adults talk and hearing him specifically. One of them is very interested in the Scandinavian community in Skagit County and backs up a lot of what she's heard. It's really opened up a world for me.

[rosarugosa]

That's great, Kay!