The Meeting: A New Journey Begins

Friday:

The drive was easy.

It seemed like it took only one or two hours and not the regular four. As we crossed over the Hoover Dam on this new route we could see no water.  This route shortchanged me. I wanted to point to the water below so that my grandson could see what I had seen on so many trips to Nevada in the past. I wanted to hear him say those oooh's and aww's at his first time view.

Oh well, no matter because I had other things on my mind.

We were headed to Vegas. The next day we will venture to Henderson Nevada where we will meet my daughter’s aunt and her children’s great-aunt they had never met before.

I later learned that two uncles would be driving from California, which heightened the excitement.  

Of course I know that the children would have loved for their father and grandfather to have been in on the meeting but fate is fate and we make the best of what we have.

The check in at the hotel was not left up to me but the walk from the parking area to the hotel was. Sheesh, my legs thought it would never make it. The only place to park was in the back of the hotel and the rooms were in the front.

Finally after I reached the elevator and rode up to the 19^th floor, the arrow pointing to the rooms looked like it reached back to Arizona.

Huffing and puffing, we made it to the room, put the bags away and Tyler said, “let’s go eat” !

I made the mistake of not asking them to bring me a doggie bag back, so down the hallway and elevator I went.

I just love my kids, they are in such good shape and waited for me as I trudged along. I could see in their faces how happy they were. LOL

Saturday:

We arrived at the house, rang the doorbell and waited for the door to open. We rang the doorbell again and no answer.

We decided to go back and sit in the car.

My daughter called her new found cousin Tanya on the phone. The message came on and said the mailbox was full.   I think the next thing was to text which she did.  No answer.

  

Were we at the right home? We checked the address again, and even tried calling again. I asked my daughter if she may have gotten the address wrong. She checked her messages and re-read the address that Tanya her cousin had sent to her.

  

And then suddenly two cars turned the corner, drove up to the house and parked!

My daughter’s Aunt Sherian kept looking as she drove up and a huge grin spread across her face. She parked, and got out of the car and started giving the best hugs. 

                                                                                                                                                                    

They all looked like Al, but boy that one brother Kenneth looked like they could have been twins.  

David, the other brother was the most talkative one. 

All he asked we tried to answer, and all we asked they tried to remember the answers; 

We needed to put into respective the road that we travelled to get here.

It was a lot to soak in but then again it was not enough time. I think we did well with what we knew.

All the rest can be learned in time if it is for us.

I instantly fell in love with them.

There is one more sister we have to meet and that’s Leslie.

There were so many similarities in the lives we had been living it is almost scary.

First off, Tanya the cousin previously lived in the same city we live in and worked at the same beauty shop where we get our hair styled;

I used to live a couple blocks away in Los Angeles from where they lived;

Sherilyn worked for the FAA briefly and so did Al;

Al was a golfing junkie and David also had that passion;

The great Aunt Mary lives in Oklahoma City and not that far from where we were for Al’s home-going service;

The other great Aunt Novella lives in the same city as my brother Bruce;

It just so happens that she was the one whose name I was obsessed with because I had never heard it before.

We looked through pictures and pictures. We now know what Al’s parents and grands look like.

Lee Edward Holmes aka Roland Lee Holmes (Father ) Creek Co Okla.

                  Charles Smith   (Grandfather ) Texas 

Laura Mae Smith Holmes (mother)Robertson County Texas

Lillie Bell Simmons Holmes (g-mother) Creek County Okla. 

Mary Smith Benson (gg-grmother) her Father John Smith(ggg-gr father)

We also have new names to add to the family tree. Names like Holmes, Smith, Benson, Johnson, Simmons, Figures, Moody and Lawrence.

Sunday:

We met for Brunch, and had another wonderful time eating a great mean and watching the football game.  David's wife Margo was there along with Sherians hubby Hal. There was this guy who talked with us about football and laughed at me when I said Go Cardinals!  What can I say, loyalty is one of my best virtues. 

The cousins at Brunch getting their eats on and styling.

  

After eating, I stayed awhile in the lounge where there were rows and rows of bandits minus one arm. Now they are sporting buttons that give you the option of choosing the one you want.  My choices were not the bandits choice I might add.

Grateful: Two cousins

Tanya and Tish you two made it happen.

I loved both of your smiles and heartfelt feelings. Stay strong and stay in touch with each other. This was an amazing story within itself and remember, we all are bound to have another story worth remembering and telling. Life is like that.

You know, there is something special in people when you can talk with ease and it seems like you have known each other for years and years instead of one or two days.

I would like to think that if I had not played a part in this journey and the clock was turned back, I would have bumped into these same people and struck up a relationship that would have lasted a lifetime. 

That is the affect that they had on me.

Letter To Mitch In Heaven: Promise Kept

Dear AL

The journey is complete as promised. 

I swore I would not stop until I found the family you had been looking for.

I was all in for the task because we shared a beautiful girl and two grandchildren. 

The need to know who you were grew stronger later in life for both of us. 

You with the wanting to know your naturals and me wanting our children to know who they were and where they came from.

As you know we talked many times about finding your natural parents, brothers and or sisters if they were still alive.

Did they look like you and you like them. What would you say to them, and vice versa? 

By now I believe that you have seen your mother and father in Heaven and that there were plenty of hugs. 

No reasons for questions and answers in Heaven just good old fashion joy and praise.

Just in case in their excitement to embrace you, they may have forgotten to mention that you have two brothers, two sisters, and two aunts down here.

Two of your siblings and one aunt live in California, one sibling lives in Nevada and then one aunt lives in Oklahoma City.

All praises go to God Almighty because He was instrumental in you listening to me and took the DNA Autosomal test offered by 23&Me.

Thank you so much for letting me manage your kit. 

I especially want to thank you for downloading to Gedmatch. 

That's the service where you were able to pick up other testers who used Ancestry and from those who used FamilyTree DNA.

Wow, was I surprised when a match came up that revealed you had two matches. One was a 1st cousin male and the other one was just as close and also a male. They had to be a father and son or durn near close to it. Right under them was your daughter and both grandchildren.  I almost fell out of my chair! 

I could not wait to send an email to the gentleman who tested through Ancestry.

After a few questions, we realized that his mother and your mother are SISTERS!

I could just hug the 1^st cousin tester because he was the soul who was sent to start the happiness to rolling. 
His name is Richard Ivey, son of Mary Smith Ivey.

He then set it up for my daughter and me to chat with his mom.  We were all overwhelmed and happy and talked for a good twenty minutes. 

It was especially crushing to know that they lived in the same city for years as you.

We were also in Oklahoma City for the home-going service.  So close yet so far

My thoughts were of you as your aunt and I talked.

She gave me some new names that are leafs to your family tree.
Names like Benson, lawrence, Figures and a few others.

I also need to give a shout out to a dear friend by the name of Jeannine who guided me with the Benson clue over two years ago but I could not make that connection.  

Also another shout out goes to Willie A Heard for taking me visually through many youthful trips he and Al had during their childhood and beyond. For that I am eternally grateful.

I am over the moon with excitement.

I started this journey with you in late 1991 or early 1992.

A friend that I worked with named Carrie Moos asked if I wanted to go to the LDS Research Center with her in hopes we could gain some headway in both of our searches.

Remember when I sent you that 1930 census with your parent Lee Edward Holmes in Bristow Oklahoma with his parents William and Lilliebelle mentioned. Also listed were sons William and Dorris and a daughter Novella. 

I found nothing for Laura Mae Smith and mumbled to myself that I would come back to the Center again.

That was the day I was forever hooked.

In my heart I knew that this was not going to be a piece of cake but I also knew that I could unselfishly help others along the way when I got to a brick wall with my research.

So now after all these years we are here at this junction

I wish you could have still been here to express your joy but other plans had already been made.

I know you had questions and sometimes life sends us in other directions.

I feel that the direction you were sent to hear those answers, were passed on to me through that fork in the road we came to in life’s journey.  

I talked to your sister and I have a feeling we will get along great. She lives in Henderson right outside of Vegas and that may be an indication that I may be up for a drive every now and then.

My prayer is that my daughter, her kids and her other siblings will be able to meet all their family.

I know you loved the game of golf, and from what my Uncle Prof aka WC Daviss in Altus Oklahoma told me is that he was your teacher and you were a good student on the green.

In this case I would say that you got a Bogey on this one. 

Your family has been found!

Or should I have said that it is par for the course because we got it like that.

Bittersweet:

It’s been a long time coming as I count the years of search

Always wondering what it may be worth

The countless looking through records

Talking on the phone

Hearing faceless people with promises

Kept Secrets that could have been shared

Instead a cry of not knowing was carried to a grave

Sadly

Let the truth be known for it was silence

That hurt the most

Pain you did not bear

Messing up more than one person’s thought and perception

Mind-less

Unfair

And it did not have to be that way

Healing could have come early

Like the shutters on a window

When open

The light comes shining through

Fewer tears

Wasted years

I have said it before and then again

It’s in the blood baby, as simple as that

Made from the foundation

An XX and a XY found

DNA

I see you in faces now three boys and one girl

Paternal and maternal you should have known

Not your fault, not too late

Fate

Maybe now up there on the other side of heaven’s door

Answers

Down here those that are left hug

Tight

With all their might, try and make up

What should have been

Then

Rest In Perfect Peace Alford for you are surrounded by many who love you. The parents who raised you, the ones now found: And, as an added bonus, those of us who are left here on earth loved you immensely then and we love you still. 

 P. S. Ok Now I can stop the crying.