AJ’s grandma is still hanging on … her breathing is even more shallow, but she is a strong woman even now. This process called dying is different for each and every person, isn’t it? We didn’t think she would be around more than a day or two when we were there last week … I really don’t know when she will finally go, but we said our goodbyes and do not plan on going back to Fort Worth. His mom and sister would like us to do so, but there’s really no point and we are in quite a financial pinch after the expense of September’s evacuation, two trips to Fort Worth, and now the $600 repair bill for my truck. The power steering went out a couple of days ago. 
On to more cheerful news — my cousin got married this past weekend, and my dad came in from New Orleans for the wedding. It was very nice and yesterday afternoon we were able to spend some time with Dad and his girlfriend. They have invited us to come spend Thanksgiving with them and I believe we are going to do it. It will go over like a lead balloon with the rest of our family (especially Mom), but Dad is 73 years old. We see him on average once every 12 – 18 months, and who knows how much longer any of us will be around …. (I sound so morbid, but it’s true). So we are going to tempt the furies (literally, because hell hath no fury like my momma) and go see Dad.
While we were visiting he showed me some of the genealogy research that he’s been doing on Ancestry.com — there is a feature on the program called “One World Tree” that is linked in somehow with the research the Mormon church does (and is supposed to be very accurate) … there is a 0 – 5 star rating on how reliable the information is. I am quite tickled to discover (keeping in mind that someone could have made a mistake, but the accuracy rating is still 4 stars out of 5) ….
Geoffrey Chaucer was my 19th great grandfather! 
How do you make an English major’s day? Tell them they come by their love of words QUITE NATURALLY. 
(William Faulkner is also a distant cousin, but I would just as soon ignore that one, since I do not care for his writing AT ALL. 
)
A Scribbler & A Shutterbug 
I am related to Kaiser Wilhelm… closely…..That’s not something the family advertised during WW I or WWII. 🙂
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@pottermom – My dad’s grandmother’s name was Mina Preising … Wilhemina Preising … LOL Her mother immigrated from Germany in the 1850’s, I believe. Her name was Julia. I was amused to see that, with somewhat less accuracy, we are distant cousins to James Dean and Elvis Presley … my dad’s girlfriend is distantly related to Jane Austen. I told her I would trade her James Dean and Elvis for Jane.
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It is not easy when you know you are about to lose a loved one, but you just don’t know when. But I am glad you got to say your goodbyes. And it’s not morbid to talk about not having forever. We aren’t even promised the next minute…let alone the next day or week or year.Ok…about the LDS information….(genealogy is my thing and I love Ancestry.com): There is A LOT on the LDS site that is not accurate. Now…the information about more famous people tends to be more accurate than most. But I have found a ton of misinformation on there. The reason is people submit ancestry info about people they don’t even know. The LDS church for some stupid reason, has something like a (for lack of a better description) a point system. The more ancestries you submit, the better off you are later on. I have found much of my family information incorrect on there, and I know it is because I’ve actually done the research. Many people, just ordinary people that are not related, can submit stuff they find in other places on the internet, and call it correct. That’s just stupid. But…having said that…it is very similar on Ancestry.com. The family trees submitted on there many times are just whatever somebody else found on the internet. The ones you can take as accurate are the ones that list a lot of source information on them, such as birth records, death records, and census information. I can’t tell you the number of times I have had somebody email me (because I have posted a lot of info on Ancestry and Rootsweb) and tell me they just swear that so-and-so was their 5th great-whatever, and it’s just false, because all they did was copy stuff off the internet. So…I hope your dad is getting actual documents to prove your ancestry. Even on Ancestry.com, anyone can go in and change records on there. I’ve done it. You don’t have to have any proof whatsoever to go on Ancestry, and change a family tree.Having said that…that’s great that you have found out your relationship to these men! I know a lady (her kids grew up in our church when I was a teen there) who is the niece of William Faulkner.
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@SingingMom – I know what you mean — I am taking it with a grain of salt, and truth be told, I don’t really have a ton of time to do the research myself, so I’m like “If that’s true, well that’s pretty neat, huh?” His information came off Ancestry.com. They have some sort of star system where the more stars the information has, the more likely it is to be accurate. Are you familiar with that? The Chaucer link had four stars. So who knows? It is pretty tricky, isn’t it? Ultimately, the most important relationship we have is with Jesus, no?
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@TXMom2Jami – Okay, 100% truth here….. I was “supposed” to be a boy. I was going to be named after my grandfathers. Forest William. I was born and was nameless for three days because they couldn’t come up with a name. They SERIOUSLY considered naming me Foresta Wilhemina ……. with a whopper of a German surname to go with it. yah, that would have been a fun name to carry around (I had an aunt Minnie… she was a Wilhemina but never used it, I also had an Aunt Foresta… she went by Jean… lol)
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@SingingMom – I agree, there is a lot of misinformation out there.In my case it’s only four generations back with marriage certificates and wills documenting it…I have wills from the early 1200s. It’s really amazing to read them. The poor wives really suffered when their husbands kicked the bucket…. hope their kids were nice to them. 🙂
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@TXMom2Jami – Oh, yes, I’ve had a subscription to Ancestry.com for years. That’s really not what that star system means. There are 5 stars. When you put in a name to their search engine, the results with the most stars, just means that is the closest to the name you actually put into the search engine. For example, if I put my name as Cynthia Kay Roberson (my maiden), information that pops up (like my Harris Co. birth record) that is exactly the same name, will have 5 stars. The stars decrease with the distance from that actual name, such as….C. Roberson might come up, but it would only be one or 2 stars, because it is far removed from the name I put in the search engine. And C. Roberson could be anybody. My grandfather was C. Roberson because his name was Clarence. Is that as clear as mud?
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@pottermom – You are SOOOO fortunate to have those wills! That is a gold mine. The wives and daughters really did get gyped out of a lot of stuff. My son always says we better be nice to him because he’s the one that’s gonna pick out our nursing homes! *rolling eyes* Oh, my goodness, you are also fortunate to not get saddled with the names you listed, lol! That’s funny. My Gernan ancestry is through the Richter family, that was changed to Rector in the U.S. I also have Fischbachs in that line, among others. Hartman is my married name, but is also Gernan. My husband’s great-grandparents came over from Germany in the 1800’s, but my Rector/Richters came over in the 1700’s. I have not done as much research on his line because he is adopted.
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@TXMom2Jami – Ultimately, the most important relationship we have is with Jesus, no? AMEN! And of course, we are all related if we go back far enough. But I heard all the records were destroyed in a flood!
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@SingingMom – Destroyed in a flood … you are so funny!
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Geoffrey Chaucer, nice!
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