rbgarr
09-08-2006, 04:57 PM
Hywl's chiding me about my vocabulary (I wrote 'indexes' instead of 'indices'), and my mother's recent departure for Ireland prompted me to think about Great Britain and my tenuous connection to it.
My Ma was given up for adoption after WWI and brought to NYC in the early 20s. As a youngster, she had the opportunity to learn about her birth parents and the circumstances of her leaving that family. She chose not to learn those details but it sparked her interest in her relations. She learned that the family who adopted her in NYC was related to the Dame of Sark, one of the Guernsey Isles (?). Apparently the Dame visited her family for the Christmas holidays in the US one year, but that must have been after WW II (Sark was occupied by the Nazis), and my mother would have been married at the time.
My brother travelled to England on business from time to time before he retired. He was enjoying a pint in a pub one evening when the fellow next to him pulled out his wallet to pay up before leaving. My brother glanced over at the credit card the guy set on the bar and was shocked to see that it had his (my brother's) name on it and was issued by the same cc company. It turned out that they (we) are related and my brother has kept loosely in touch with him since. This fellow's mother sailed across the Atlantic a number of years ago at age 89. He, Ian Tew, wrote a book about it called "Sailing in Grandfather's Wake".
A young nurse who cared for my grandmother for many, many years was a wonderful Irish woman (I know, Ireland isn't part of GB anymore, but anyway....) Her name was Rosie and she was always very nice to us grandchildren. On my grandmother's death she returned to Ireland to marry a famous footballer. They started a school for challenged children on Valentia Island. Anyone ever been or sailed near there? My ma and sister have gone to visit her and I hope they'll bring back pictures. I hear it's in a beautiful southwest coastal area of Ireland near Kerry. The website makes it look interesting especially the hand drawn map with references to St. Brendan and the Transatlantic Cable. http://indigo.ie/~cguiney/valentia.html
Especially charming is the comment by the 'webmaster': "If I have left out anyone's business, I do apologize and would appreciate it if you would give me your name and phone number and I'll include you here. You know where I live."
My Ma was given up for adoption after WWI and brought to NYC in the early 20s. As a youngster, she had the opportunity to learn about her birth parents and the circumstances of her leaving that family. She chose not to learn those details but it sparked her interest in her relations. She learned that the family who adopted her in NYC was related to the Dame of Sark, one of the Guernsey Isles (?). Apparently the Dame visited her family for the Christmas holidays in the US one year, but that must have been after WW II (Sark was occupied by the Nazis), and my mother would have been married at the time.
My brother travelled to England on business from time to time before he retired. He was enjoying a pint in a pub one evening when the fellow next to him pulled out his wallet to pay up before leaving. My brother glanced over at the credit card the guy set on the bar and was shocked to see that it had his (my brother's) name on it and was issued by the same cc company. It turned out that they (we) are related and my brother has kept loosely in touch with him since. This fellow's mother sailed across the Atlantic a number of years ago at age 89. He, Ian Tew, wrote a book about it called "Sailing in Grandfather's Wake".
A young nurse who cared for my grandmother for many, many years was a wonderful Irish woman (I know, Ireland isn't part of GB anymore, but anyway....) Her name was Rosie and she was always very nice to us grandchildren. On my grandmother's death she returned to Ireland to marry a famous footballer. They started a school for challenged children on Valentia Island. Anyone ever been or sailed near there? My ma and sister have gone to visit her and I hope they'll bring back pictures. I hear it's in a beautiful southwest coastal area of Ireland near Kerry. The website makes it look interesting especially the hand drawn map with references to St. Brendan and the Transatlantic Cable. http://indigo.ie/~cguiney/valentia.html
Especially charming is the comment by the 'webmaster': "If I have left out anyone's business, I do apologize and would appreciate it if you would give me your name and phone number and I'll include you here. You know where I live."