We recently had a cousin from the UK, who we found through internet research, visit us in Australia. We dragged him all over New South Wales to meet other cousins and down to Melbourne to visit a clock made by an ancestor.
I took our visitor on an excurison to a city outside Sydney to visit with an older cousin. My husband made arrangements by phone with the cousin and his daughter and he seemd pleased that we were going to visit him. I had been meaning to revisit this gentleman for quite a while as he previously shared some wonderful families stories with us. I was anxious to see him again and our English cousin's visit provided that opportunity.
After we had a quick tour of the sights and a leisurely lunch we proceeded to the elder relation's home. We rang the doorbell, no answer. We phoned him and could hear it ringing in the house, no-one home! We waited a while and as I phoned my husbnd to vent my spleen a car pulled into the driveway. Eureka!
The elderly cousin alighted from the car and exclaimed "Who are you?" I introduced the cousin from England.
"Lovely, lovely" was the response "Give me a hug!" The elderly cousin's carer left him with us with a few instructions and took off. This dear old gentleman took us into his home and showed us the family photos on the wall and pulled out a few albums. Sadly he didn't have a clue who we were and was unable to recount any of the stories he had previously shared. We stayed a while, talked to him and gave a few hugs.
Our visit made an old man very happy but, unfortunately, it was too late to hear and record his stories of our ancestors for future generations.
How sad, and how true! I have been meaning to go and visit my uncle before he loses his memory and keep putting it off. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDelete