A lovely surprise was amongst the pile of mail that greeted us on our arrival home from nine weeks of travel last night.
Amongst the begging letters, bills and advertising bumph was a small brownpaper package from a distant relative of my husband's.
On opening it we discovered a collection of a dozen photos of my husband's Gowans great aunts and uncles and assorted relatives with a note from my late mother-in-law's cousin.
Knowing of our obsession with family history this cousin and family members when going through the photos of his recently deceased brother decided to pass these treasures on to us. I was deeply touched and honoured by this gesture as I can think of over a hundred Gowans descendants who may have been entrusted with these items.
Thankyou to Warren for sending this treasure to us. It will be cherished. I will scan the images and share them with any Gowans family members that find me.
The moral of this story is that seeking out distant relatives, sharing family stories and letting them know of your passion for family history will reap rewards.
3 comments:
I absolutely agree. When my husband's aunt died at 98 years old last February (she had no children), her niece instructed that I was to receive the large paper bag of photos (old and newer) because she knew I was interested and that I would take care of them.
I am slowly sharing some on my blog (A Jewish Genealogy Journey) and was able to use some to create a computer slideshow for my father-in-law (her brother) for his 90th birthday in October!
Thanks, Elizabeth, for your comment. Having had some of my images lifted and posted on Ancestry trees with no attribution and incorrect identification of persons in them I am becoming wary of sharing too many old family photos on my blog.
An early Christmas present! A member of my family received a letter recently from another relative - full of reminscenses about her life. Better than any present.
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