Finding Family

My trip has been very successful. I have learned the names of my grandfathers brothers. My grandfather was the oldest of 5 boys and I have listed them by their birth order (Adam, Impol, Tomasz, Franciszek, and Jozef). All of the boys were born in Belarus and slowly moved to other parts of the world after World War 1.

I have met all my cousins from Jozef's family and they live in Poland. Except for Marta who lives in London. Some day I hope to meet her face to face as I have done with the other cousins in Poland.

Tomasz family lives in Argentina and I am happy to have found them. Thanks for the internet and their curiosity, we have been searching for one another for some time. Now we have the opportunity to communicate through email and other online tools.

Franciszek family is in Italy. It's so exciting to see the puzzle pieces coming together and learning so much about my cousins. I love Italy so you know I'll make the trip to visit them one day soon.

Adam's family is all in the United States. My gift to my cousins in America is the gift of knowledge so that they have the opportunity to make a connection to our other cousins if they wish. I will make it possible for everyone to be active or not in connecting with our family. It is their choice.

I do all of this to honor my Mother Josephine. She was always so good at keeping everyone in Poland informed as to events within our family in the United States. Once mom is gone that connection would be lost. Now it is not lost but can begin a new life through the internet and all the cousins we have around the world. It is very exciting and the possibilities are endless.