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Who’s the Curly Haired Boy in the Photo?

Shawna has become the family genealogist. She is fascinated with the family tree and does a good job of keeping everyone up to date with births, deaths and marriages.

Because she is interested in the family history, she is always on the lookout for old family photos. She is known to scour basements and attics in search of those “missing links” in the family chain. 

If you will give up a picture, she will certainly have a place for it in her library of photo albums showing your lineage.

Every family has a natural historian and many times they aren’t given the credit they deserve. They seem to be the ones to keep in touch with everyone and are always the major organizers of family reunions.

It Can be Embarrassing not to Know Someone Who is Talking to You
When you are at a family gathering, it can be embarrassing not to know someone who is talking to you. You do your best to keep the conversation going with them by bringing up familiar names and hoping the “unknown” family member knows that person as well. At the earliest possible moment, you get Shawna’s attention and find out who the stranger is that you just had a fifteen minute conversation with. She quickly enlightens you with detailed information about the fact that the “mystery man” is your second cousin’s, second husband. Her first husband apparently ran off with someone he’d met on the Internet. Her new husband Dan brought three children into the marriage (Kirby, Alicia and Megan) and they are living in Kelowna. He has worked for Safeway there for fifteen years.

How does she know all this stuff? Where is this girl when the police are looking for fugitives? She could be making big money as a tracker of missing persons!

The Expert is Baffled
Shawna is the recognized expert but one old photo has baffled her for years. There is one piece of the family puzzle that she hasn’t been able to locate. In a family picture from the 1930s there is a curly haired boy standing next to her Grandma, Rose, in the front row. He looks different. All the other kids in that photo have straight blonde hair - his is dark. Where does he fit in?

Her grandma tells her that is “Billy.” They looked after him for about five years after his mother died. He was not related to them - that’s just what you did back then. All she remembers was that one of his uncles in Toronto had sent a letter requesting that Billy come and live with them. They put him on the train in Calgary when he was ten years old and that’s the last she’d heard about him.

This was too much for Shawna. If Billy had been in a family photo, he was definitely family and was going to be identified as such!

The family genealogist started her search. Billy might as well have been one of “America’s most wanted” because he was definitely going to be found. The family was going to know what had happened to him after that train ride to Toronto.

Tracked Him Down
It took her ten weeks, but she tracked him down like a top-notch detective. All she had was the name William Withers and the town where he was born. She used the Internet, 20 stamps and one hour of cheap long distance calls.

At the next family reunion Shawna announced five new additions: four babies and an “Uncle Billy.” She took a picture of him next to grandma Rose. That new photo is now in the album next to the old photo of the curly haired boy in the front row. 

Here’s the Story
When Billy arrived in Toronto, he only lived with his new family for six months. His uncle died of pneumonia and he was actually raised by his aunt in Minnesota. He’s had a wonderful life but always secretly wondered what happened to his “second family” that rescued him at the age of five. Now he’s got them back.

Take time to thank the Shawna’s (historians) in your family. They are the roots of your family tree.

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Allen Unrau writes a weekly column relating to "reallife" seniors issues in Abbotsford BC. He is actively involved as a volunteer with numerous seniors' organizations in the Fraser Valley. He is a grandfather of eight and works as a licensed realtor specializing in seniors Real Estate...helping seniors and their families with the purchase or sale of homes in the Fraser Valley.

If you are listing your property for sale in the Fraser Valley, or to request further information, please call Allen at 1-604-855-0800 or toll free at 1-866-855-0800.

© Allen Unrau