My cousin Heather did a lot of work to uncover our family history. Another cousin did a lot of work before he died of cancer, but his widow wasn’t willing to add to what Heather already knew. Based on my copy of Heather’s work, she had to have put in hundreds (thousands?) of hours searching records, copying documents and making notations. My mother had quite a few photos to supplement many of Heather’s documents.

My mom also had a treasure trove of pictures from our branch of the family tree. The most fascinating for me is the stained sepia picture of my grandmother’s mother. Nanny’s name was Eva Clair Blankenship. Her mother, Virgie Orey, married Grover Cleveland Blankenship. Every time I look at Virgie’s picture, I wish I could have met her. In my opinion, she is beautiful and mysterious. Is it odd that I can study the photo for hours searching for answers to my many questions?