Back in the mid 1980′s, I got interested in our family genealogy. I interviewed as many older relatives that I could get hold of, and tried to contact long-lost relatives.
Around that same time, a “long-lost” cousin near London, England was doing the same thing. She is a columnist for a London newspaper, and was doing a story on genealogy. Through her efforts, she located my grandparents here in the United States, and came to visit them. When I contacted my grandparents about my own interest in family history, they told me about her visit, showed me the newspaper article she had written about how her genealogy research led her to visit my grandparents in the United States, and showed me her picture. We could have been twins!
They gave me her contact information, and we started exchanging letters. It was fun to do, learning about this person I am related to, who looks like me. We had a lot in common, and we still keep in touch through emails. We ask each other for advice, and give each other moral support.
We share a lot of our personal dreams, and frustrations, and have gotten close. She recently went through a difficult divorce, and has decided to take a “holiday” and visit relatives in Canada and do some sightseeing while she regroups from her divorce. She has several months of vacation time available, and she is planning on taking most of it. She has been telling me about her search for flights to Canada, and her travel arrangements and her plans to visit with our relatives.
She wants to go to the Old City of Quebec, Niagara Falls, the museum at Pier 21 in Halifax, and see the Canadian Rockies. She hasn’t quite decided exactly where she wants to stay while seeing the Rockies. She has been doing a lot of Internet research, and mulling over her options about hotels and rental cars. She has quite a few decisions to make!
I’d love to try to find some way to get together with her in person after all these years of corresponding! Maybe I’ll find a way to get up to the Old City of Quebec or Niagara Falls for a few days. I’ve been to both of those places before and had a great time! Great food, cool stuff to see! I especially loved the Public Gardens around Niagara Falls, would love to see them again!