My long-time dead-end in family research has broken through in a BIG way. Out of the clear blue sky I received a call a couple of weeks ago from the daughter of Great Grandma Alvena's little sister, Dora. She did a google search for the surname Strohman and found a post I made back in 1999, then tracked me down from Colorado to here. Amazing! I am so thrilled that I can't adequately express my feelings of joy, amazement, gratitude, love....
You know that I don't believe in coincidences. Especially when it was just one month before when we located Richard Romain and Alvena Strohman Mann's graves. I don't know when was the last time any family member had been there. I had a special feeling there and wondered if they were aware of our search for their graves.
I am now making plans for a visit to Norma in Iowa soon. She put me in touch with a descendant of another of Alvena's sisters who has more information about their hometown in Germany and lots more. She has a daughter named Christina also! The family is being reunited.
In preparation for my trip, I have been organizing records and making copies for the family members I will be meeting; both paper and digital form.
I had some extra energy one night and stayed up making a receipt holder because I couldn't find one at the store that suited me.
I quilted a cover then sewed inside pockets and then some zip-lock bags. You remember those, don't you girls?
Here is my version:
Now to show you my new toy! At the library I often saw patrons scanning books with various sorts of handheld scanners. At the time I didn't need one because there is a fantastic book scanner on every floor that I would use. Well, now I can see the virtues of such a device. Mine uses 2 AA batteries. Scans jpg or pdf in resolution from 300 to 900dpi. uses a mini SD card (mine is a 4G) so I can scan all day when I get to the libraries there.
My friend, Andrea has research to do in Iowa also and is wanting to come along with me so I am waiting for her to get things in order at home so she can start making travel plans. We are thinking in September so maybe it won't be so hot and sticky.
That's so awesome! So glad she found you, I'm looking forward to news of the trip. :)
ReplyDeleteThat handheld scanner is pretty cool. I can definitely see the value in having something like that for field work like your upcoming trip. We'll have to get one before our big trip to Europe, whenever that happens.