Success Comes With Failure

Submitted by: GFSAcadian@aol.com

Impossible Ancestors, I've got a book of those! All lost, all dead ends and brick walls and on my maternal side of the family. Lucky me though, I have my Acadian paternal lines all the way to France. The Catholics left such details in their Church records and a wealth of information. The exception is one stray CALLAHAN, the first John and his wife Nancy BOLENE, which nobody has been able to find. Those VA links are gone forever and I have had people searching through some of the biggest libraries in the State!

I did connect one of my maternal dead ends, thanks to the GA mail list back in 1996. A friend of mine on AOL, GFS Carol, told me to subscribe to those lists after I had to leave AOL due to financial reasons. A MEWBORN, MEWBURN cousin saw my posting and he and I connected his NC branch to my GA branch. One success story that my Mother would have been happy to share in. But alas, she died in 1980 and before this wonderful age of computers.

So, success does come with the failures and that's what makes us keep searching for those missing links. Cousins become treasured friends, sharing information and lending helping hands across the miles. We may never meet face to face, but I have cousins as far away as France, Canada and as close as Louisiana. I am Blessed and I am honored to be a hostess in the Genealogy Forum here on AOL. 

Happy Trails and Happy Tales!