There’s no doubt the Internet brings people together. Every once in a while I’ll hear from someone I went to school or worked with decades ago. That’s always fun. Last night the Internet brought me some new old relatives!
Geoff,
I’ve been doing some family research and right now the trail seems to be leading to you and your grandfather, Sol Drelich. Do you know his father’s name? Was it Gershon or Bezalel?
I’m attaching an old family photograph — take a look at the person at the far left and tell me if you see a resemblance.
The guy on the left does look like my grandfather, Sol Drelich. And I was named for my great grandfather, Gershon. Wow!
I don’t know any Drelich’s. We are a very small family.
All my grandfather’s family was killed in Europe during the Holocaust. He was the sole survivor. But David, the emailer explained,
I know quite a bit about the Drelichs. Almost all of my line (10 of 12 siblings) made it to America well before the Holocaust.
There’s so much to go through, I think I will start at the beginning and work down to the present.
And then in intricate detail he laid out our family tree. David and I are third cousins.
I called my parents and sister and sent them the email. This is totally unexpected, but exciting.
Today I got another email from another relative. My grandparents were at her wedding back in the early 60s. She has a photo and will send it to me.
We are all looking forward to seeing it.
You find some fascinating tales through genealogy, and I suppose were all related somewhere along the line. Like the saying goes in England were all related to Alfred the Great as it’s impossible that many generations back for us all to have unrelated relatives. I’ve been doing a lot of research myself into my great great grandfather Robert Knowles who was a fairly wealthy mill owner in the industrial revolution and was instrumental in getting the 10 hour working day act through parliament in the UK. I’m sure in generations to come your own great grandchildren will look back at all the records you have left and be just as proud of you as I am of my ancestors. I will say keep digging though there is always some great fun stories and dark sheep in every family.
I’ve dabbled in the family tree on and off for years and have connected with a number of relatives I would never have found without the internet. About a dozen of us set up a messaging group based on our common ancestry back in Wales in the 1870’s and we share information as we find it. Strangely enough, I recently found out that a guy I worked with about ten years ago was actually my fourth cousin. Neither of us had any idea at the time that we shared the same great great great grandparents.
That is so exciting! And I there is definitely a family resemblance to you and Sol!
I’ve worked on my family history and my husband’s on and off over the years. I love when I discover something or someone from long ago.
My husband had a visit a couple of months ago by a distant cousin and they both have the same first and last names.We think the link is either 5 or 6 generations back. His cousin gave us lots of history about his side of the family and we were so grateful that he took the 2 hour trip to our house on the chance that he would meet us!