Posted on 08/12/2006 4:25:34 PM PDT by ashamedtobefromparkridge
As if we all didn't know what a great site this is this story will prove it.
If you click on my name you'll see IM me at ccubs223834 on AOL anytime.
Well last night I was on the net and I got an IM asking me "Are you myfirstname maidenname? If you are this is your Uncle Bob"
I said "well its myfirstandlastname now but this is your niece ashamedtobefromparkridge"
When my grandpa died my mom and this uncle had a horrible fight. They haven't spoken since the will was settled.
He made some connections while reading some of my posts and decided to ask.
We had a long IM and I said "Uncle Bob, this has been breaking my mothers heart for years but she was afraid to call and you are both stubborn irish redheads. Then when she wanted to call you weren't published and the address we had was undeliverable"
He said "I tried calling but the number was disconnected. Your brothers are non published. I even thought about contacting your dad at his company but lost nerve but I decided when I realized this was you to take the bull by the horns. When I went to Chicago on business a few years ago I realized your mother had moved and I had no idea where to find her"
The sad part of that is my mom has moved but if he had knocked on the door he would have found me since my husband and I bought her house.
I said "Call she's at my house now because her house is being painted"
Well he logged off and 2 seconds later the phone rang.
There was a lot of yelling a lot of tears but needless to say my mom has a brother again who's coming to visit as soon as he can. My other uncle is going to come in and have a grand family reunion. And I have an uncle again. And my kids have a great uncle now.
Been Spending a lot of time emailing him pictures of all he missed. He has 9 grand nieces and nephews he never has met including several named after his parents in one way or another. Missed my wedding and the weddings of 2 of my brothers and my cousin by my other uncle. Saw my daughter who looks so much like my mom did at her age. He said how proud his mother would be that her great granddaughters middle name is Reagan. He even missed the fact that after 30 years of divorce after being married to other people and widowed from them my parents are remarried!
So if anyone has any doubts as to the power of the net and how great this site is you shouldn't.
And if you have a family member you haven't talked to in a long time pick up the phone.
If one person here starts a healing process with a family member or friend because of this post it will be great.
IBTZ
For several years, I've dabbled in genealogy and I've had similar experiences. Thanks for the post.
Wow. Awesome.
So you're long, lost uncle is a FReeper? That's cool. FR carries an enormous amount of weight online. I work in IT and there are many people at my job that have never lurked here, but they sure have heard of Free Republic.
Cool story. My son's middle name is Reagan btw. Who knows maybe my birth parents are FReepers and we just haven't found each other yet...LOL (yes I've been searching for a looong time)
Awesome! I know when I first surfed the net in '98 I realized that genealogy work that would have taken years suddenly was done in a week. I found out that my part of the family was not the last line. Sadly, I also found out everyone else with my maiden name couldn't get any farther back in their families than I had.
LOL!
Somebody's pickin' on us redheads...
Where is 'parkridge,' is that like Rio Linda or something?
very heart warming and encouraging. This is exactly the type of thing we need to learn about in these times.
Thank you and best of luck to you and yours.
Park Ridge, IL is She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's home town.
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