A new friend died on Wednesday, her name was Norma Wilson. She was 81 years old. I met Norma while doing geneology research, her mother was my father in law's grandmothers sister. That's a mouthful.
When I found her (two years ago) she was living in an old folks home.. she was alone, her husband had passed two years before that and they had no children.
I called her up, and told her who I was, we talked about her life, growing up.
She remembered my father-in-law, I decided I had to go to Illinois, that spring. I called her every week to see how she was doing. She was so lonely, and told me how much she appreciated my calls. I brought my father in law with me, he had grown up in Chillicothe, and Norma was in Metamora, I figured we could visit some family graves, and see the places where Pops, had grown up. My sister in law came along also. It was a heck of a trip, I live in Alaska.
The day of my visit, she was sitting in the lobby of the old folks home, immediately she started reminiscing about her family. She held onto me so tight, and asked me if I'd do her a favor. She had not been to her husband's grave since he had passed. She didn't want to trouble anyone. We decided that of course we would do that, along the way she told us all about their farm, and dog, she said" Cousin Judy, if it's not too much trouble I'd like to get a peach geranium to plant on Wayne's grave they were his favorite
We drove around and found a nursery, and peach geranium we found. We drove to the cemetery, all the while I'm wondering what am I going to use to plant a geranium with in rental car. Well a tire iron worked fine, and bottled water gave it the liquid it needed. I called her once a month since then, sending cards, and letters. I got the call on Thursday that Miss Norma had passed, from a lady I didn't know, she said Norma talked about her cousin from Alaska, and how she so loved our visit. There is so much more to this story, and I know it's a long post. But I just wanted to share, geneology can really make a difference in a person's life, I am so glad I had the pleasure of meeting her. She was a wonderful lady. And she's with her husband now, and that's all she really wanted.
When I found her (two years ago) she was living in an old folks home.. she was alone, her husband had passed two years before that and they had no children.
I called her up, and told her who I was, we talked about her life, growing up.
She remembered my father-in-law, I decided I had to go to Illinois, that spring. I called her every week to see how she was doing. She was so lonely, and told me how much she appreciated my calls. I brought my father in law with me, he had grown up in Chillicothe, and Norma was in Metamora, I figured we could visit some family graves, and see the places where Pops, had grown up. My sister in law came along also. It was a heck of a trip, I live in Alaska.
The day of my visit, she was sitting in the lobby of the old folks home, immediately she started reminiscing about her family. She held onto me so tight, and asked me if I'd do her a favor. She had not been to her husband's grave since he had passed. She didn't want to trouble anyone. We decided that of course we would do that, along the way she told us all about their farm, and dog, she said" Cousin Judy, if it's not too much trouble I'd like to get a peach geranium to plant on Wayne's grave they were his favorite
We drove around and found a nursery, and peach geranium we found. We drove to the cemetery, all the while I'm wondering what am I going to use to plant a geranium with in rental car. Well a tire iron worked fine, and bottled water gave it the liquid it needed. I called her once a month since then, sending cards, and letters. I got the call on Thursday that Miss Norma had passed, from a lady I didn't know, she said Norma talked about her cousin from Alaska, and how she so loved our visit. There is so much more to this story, and I know it's a long post. But I just wanted to share, geneology can really make a difference in a person's life, I am so glad I had the pleasure of meeting her. She was a wonderful lady. And she's with her husband now, and that's all she really wanted.
A new friend died on Wednesday, her name was Norma Wilson. She was 81 years old. I met Norma while doing geneology research, her mother was my father in law's grandmothers sister. That's a mouthful.
When I found her (two years ago) she was living in an old folks home.. she was alone, her husband had passed two years before that and they had no children.
I called her up, and told her who I was, we talked about her life, growing up.
She remembered my father-in-law, I decided I had to go to Illinois, that spring. I called her every week to see how she was doing. She was so lonely, and told me how much she appreciated my calls. I brought my father in law with me, he had grown up in Chillicothe, and Norma was in Metamora, I figured we could visit some family graves, and see the places where Pops, had grown up. My sister in law came along also. It was a heck of a trip, I live in Alaska.
The day of my visit, she was sitting in the lobby of the old folks home, immediately she started reminiscing about her family. She held onto me so tight, and asked me if I'd do her a favor. She had not been to her husband's grave since he had passed. She didn't want to trouble anyone. We decided that of course we would do that, along the way she told us all about their farm, and dog, she said" Cousin Judy, if it's not too much trouble I'd like to get a peach geranium to plant on Wayne's grave they were his favorite
We drove around and found a nursery, and peach geranium we found. We drove to the cemetery, all the while I'm wondering what am I going to use to plant a geranium with in rental car. Well a tire iron worked fine, and bottled water gave it the liquid it needed. I called her once a month since then, sending cards, and letters. I got the call on Thursday that Miss Norma had passed, from a lady I didn't know, she said Norma talked about her cousin from Alaska, and how she so loved our visit. There is so much more to this story, and I know it's a long post. But I just wanted to share, geneology can really make a difference in a person's life, I am so glad I had the pleasure of meeting her. She was a wonderful lady. And she's with her husband now, and that's all she really wanted.
When I found her (two years ago) she was living in an old folks home.. she was alone, her husband had passed two years before that and they had no children.
I called her up, and told her who I was, we talked about her life, growing up.
She remembered my father-in-law, I decided I had to go to Illinois, that spring. I called her every week to see how she was doing. She was so lonely, and told me how much she appreciated my calls. I brought my father in law with me, he had grown up in Chillicothe, and Norma was in Metamora, I figured we could visit some family graves, and see the places where Pops, had grown up. My sister in law came along also. It was a heck of a trip, I live in Alaska.
The day of my visit, she was sitting in the lobby of the old folks home, immediately she started reminiscing about her family. She held onto me so tight, and asked me if I'd do her a favor. She had not been to her husband's grave since he had passed. She didn't want to trouble anyone. We decided that of course we would do that, along the way she told us all about their farm, and dog, she said" Cousin Judy, if it's not too much trouble I'd like to get a peach geranium to plant on Wayne's grave they were his favorite
We drove around and found a nursery, and peach geranium we found. We drove to the cemetery, all the while I'm wondering what am I going to use to plant a geranium with in rental car. Well a tire iron worked fine, and bottled water gave it the liquid it needed. I called her once a month since then, sending cards, and letters. I got the call on Thursday that Miss Norma had passed, from a lady I didn't know, she said Norma talked about her cousin from Alaska, and how she so loved our visit. There is so much more to this story, and I know it's a long post. But I just wanted to share, geneology can really make a difference in a person's life, I am so glad I had the pleasure of meeting her. She was a wonderful lady. And she's with her husband now, and that's all she really wanted.
