The President's Letter is a monthly column written by the FHSA President. It is published in our newsletter and posted here. Katie Gertz offer's insights into family history, the needs of the society, and personal reflections each month.
March President’s Letter
2027 March President’s Letter
Part 3
As I mentioned in my previous president’s letter, I had attended the funeral of my mother’s sister in 2000. We visited my aunt, uncle and cousin them many times in eastern Pennsylvania near the New Jersey border This was the only sister we knew my mother had. As luck would have it, my employer transferred me to work in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1979 and I moved and bought my first home very close to where my aunt lived. My mother had passed away in 1980, so I became very close to my aunt. I lived nearby until another transfer to Arizona in 1985. In hindsight, I should have begun asking questions of my aunt while I was living so close and we spent every Sunday together.
While at the funeral, after everyone left, I started grilling my cousin about the woman named Geraldine who introduced herself as my mother’s older sister. My cousin told me that not only was Geraldine an older sister but there was another older sister. My mother was the youngest of four daughters in the family. My aunt was the number three child, my mother, number four.
This was the beginning of my journey to find out about my family history. Growing up, my siblings and I were curious about why our mother never discussed her early years, her parents, or life before marrying my father. But nothing was ever revealed.
Why did my mother never talk about or introduce us to her older sisters? Obviously, Geraldine was still alive. Was anyone else in the family still alive? Did I have other family in the area that I might be able to talk to? Could I discover what secrets my mother had kept from me and my siblings? I had a million different questions and some have been answered over the years of research. I have discovered some facts that answer some of the questions. However, I have yet to find out the why! I can only hypothesize.
More next month…
Katie Gertz
FHSA President