This was strange.......
When I returned from the grocery store on Tuesday evening, I found a note from Bridget informing me that a ‘dude’ from Texas, claiming to be a relative, called me. He asked me to have any Smith family information ready and give him a call. Yipes. My first thought was that this might be one of those horrible movie of the week scenarios and this fellow was going to introduce himself as my brother. Not that I had any reason to believe that I have an unknown brother, I’ve just watched too many B movies. Plus, I wasn’t sure which Smith family he might be from - my father’s father and mother were both Smiths. I’m probably related to 2/3 of the Smiths in the Chicago area.

So I braced myself. I haven’t talked to any other living Smith relative (aside from my sister) since my father died in 1993. He had a lot of relatives, but the ones he was close to died out. By the time Dad, Karen and I were together for the last time, it felt like a scene out of the Last of the Mohicans. It turns out this fellow is married to my father’s cousin Nancy. And he has been working on putting together a complete family history (not easy when you have such a common name) for his wife, who is now on the brink of joining the DAR.

It was a fun conversation. I was able to fill him in on my father and his descendants. I had to remember the birthdates of my children and where they were born. I was so nervous I had one or two ‘Woody Allen’ moments of temporary lapse of memory of the kids’ vital stats.

He mentioned names that I had heard before and told me about people even further back. I had remembered hearing about William Rigsby, who had been sent from Prussia to help with naval battles in the War of 1812. I hadn’t been aware that he was married to a daughter of a man who fought in the Revolutionary War. Now I find out some of my Smith relatives have been here since the early 1700’s. I am quite aware that I didn’t pop out of a cabbage patch, but I found it weird to think that I am a descendant of people that I had never heard of. It was just so odd to hear names attached to them.....and then I started thinking about how I’ll have great-great-great-grand children who may never know my name. At that point watching the election returns provided relief from this deep thinking.

I’m not planning on being able to march with the DAR in the 4th of July parade. But when cousin Ray mentioned that college scholarships are available to eligible Daughters.........well, this may be worth looking into.......