Altered perspective.

This very morning I have awakened with my life adventure taking on an italic feel to it. Slightly slanted. My history and reality is nearsighted. It is a long story. Let me begin.

I grew up across the street from my grandmother and uncle. I believed this uncle was a bachelor. Until I was about a junior in high school I thought he had always been single. One day during that year my sister, Mimi, asked our mom if Uncle Dick had ever dated. Mom told us that he had actually been married very briefly and had a son. We were blown away. Never in our wildest dreams had we considered this. (I have since found application for a marriage license for Joseph Burrill Bernheim and Irene E. Giles in San Diego on July 7, 1952 using Ancestry.com.) The story was that he had separated from his wife and after she had the baby she left town. He was in touch for a while. He sent money for her to have the child's picture made and she sent him a small school picture. She moved and they lost touch. He did not pursue locating them. Ever.

Fast forward. We now have the world wide web. The Internet. My sister, Lynn, tried to search online for this cousin. My uncle was elderly now. When he learned that she was searching he asked her to keep trying. She had no luck.

Uncle Dick died in 2008 without ever having seen his son again.

Fast forward to about 2015. Somewhere around this time I joined Ancestry.com. Macho and I sent in our saliva for DNA analysis. I spent hours looking and building our family trees. My hope was that I would find my cousin. And honestly to find a nephew - but that is another story. After a year or more searching Ancestry.com I quit the site. I planned to rejoin at some point.

2018. Sister Mimi has taken a new interest in family history and had her DNA analyzed through the 23 and Me vehicle. She joined Ancestry.com. She would ask me questions about our history that I couldn't answer because I didn't have access to the site.

Last Saturday, March 17, 2018, I rejoined Ancestry.com. I spent a couple of hours looking around and reacquainting myself with the site.

On Sunday night Macho was watching teevee. It was nearly time for bed and I popped on Ancestry.com for a quick look. I remembered to check my DNA matches. There it was. I had a new match. A 1st/2nd cousin match with the initials S.C. (managed by rajcurrie). The name Currie stuck out because in precious searches I had learned that my Uncle Dick's former wife, Irene, had remarried a man named John W. Currie. (I found an application for a marriage license in Monterey, CA for Irene E. Bernheim and John W. Currie on August 28, 1971.) I thought this might be my cousin, but I didn't stick with the search because it was time for bed. I ran through the possibilities in my head all night. Perhaps it was someone on my mother's side of the family. That side is huge. Maybe it was someone I was unaware of. There is a large portion of my dad's side that I do not know. Perhaps it was one of them.

Monday dawned and after Macho got off to work I sat down to investigate further. When I looked at S.C. again and realized that we shared matches I got fired up. He matched through my dad's father's family. He matched through my dad's mother's family. I have an adopted cousin on dad's side. But I have only one biological cousin on dad's side of the family. It was him. I was sure. I did some digging and found a marriage license application for a Scott Currie and a Robin Ann Julien (rajcurrie). I began messaging rajcurrie. I think I sent, at least, 4 messages. The first I said we were related. But then I amended and said I thought S.C. and I were first cousins.

I called Mimi. We were cautiously hopeful. I spent much of the day googling and surfing. I spoke with 3 more sisters. I told my daughter. Tuesday I had things to do in town. But when I was home I was googling and surfing some more. I found where he lived, address, and phone number. Should I call? No. That would be too much. I fashioned a letter.

Wednesday morning I prayed over the letter and put it in the box. I had a full day of busy and headed off to my first meeting. I had a bunko game after the meeting. Then I ran home so I could sit with my neighbor while her husband did some grocery shopping. She was a week out from a triple bypass. I finally got home around 4:00. I quickly got back on the computer. And there it was. I had an email from Scott Currie telling me all the things I already knew. And more.

His story has some hard parts to it. He knew very little about his father but what he knew was not happy nor nice. It was difficult to read. I will not refute any of his reality. But my reality is different. I grew up with a quirky uncle, but it doesn't match what Scott's mother told him, which was very little. His mother did not date much and only remarried when he was in college. She wanted her new husband to adopt Scott - and so his name changed. I guess that is why we could not find him.

I replied to his email in hopes that our conversation can continue. Even if it doesn't this is enough. Just knowing that he is there is enough. For many years I have wanted to find a treasure, an arrowhead, mine for gold. Something inside me has shifted and I feel the weight of it and know this is it. This is my arrowhead. This is my treasure.

Shalom.