If your family is like most, there are secrets and a lot of unknowns. At least that’s true for my family on both my mom and dad’s sides.
Many years ago, my aunt Sara (Aunt Sara was my dad’s half sister; they shared a father that neither ever met) had an almost unbelievable experience that might fall under the heading of “strange but true”.
My aunt sold Stanley Home Products, usually through home parties. During one of those home parties, she began with a “getting acquainted” type of game. In this game, everyone took turns saying one thing about themselves. For example, everyone would first say their name then on their second turn they would say where they were born and the third turn would yield another fact, and it would continue in this fashion. On the first turn, one of the women said her name was also Sara, like my aunt. Her last name was the same as my aunt’s maiden name, too. They noted that and chuckled, joking that perhaps they were related. As the game continued, they found that their father’s name was the same and again chuckled. Then a bit later they found out that their father’s were born in the same small town in the Mexican state of Jalisco. At that point the game ended so that the party could go on but my aunt and the woman with all the similarities decided they would talk after the party.
During that “after the party” discussion, they realized that they were indeed sisters — half sisters. They shared a father. It was through that meeting that my aunt and uncles and my own father found out more information about their father, a man who had disappeared before my father’s birth in 1930. My aunt eventually tracked down her father and realized that at the age of 70+, the man was still fathering children!
Years later, at my aunt Sara’s funeral, I saw a young man that looked very much like pictures of my father when he was in his early 20’s. I was introduced to him only by first name. His name was Ramon. It wasn’t until weeks later that I learned, through my mother, that the young man, younger than I was at the time, was my uncle. He was the youngest son of my father’s father, also named Ramon.
Unfortunately, with relatives spread all over the country and with the older ones dying, I’ve not ever been able to discover much more about this elusive grandfather or any children he fathered after he fathered my father and the young man at the funeral. I’m sure there were many in between those two.
What a fascinating story. With the internet I would think you might be able to find more family members by searching if you were inclined to do so. So interesting Corina
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Hmm, your grandfather sounds interesting, be-bopping around, having kids and leaving for parts unknown. It’d be interesting to know how many he fathered and with how many different mothers.
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Definitely interesting. My aunt Sara’s mother was my maternal grandmother’s sister so he had kids from sisters. Oh, and my father is only four months younger than my uncle Manuel which means he got both sisters pregnant within months.
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With that type of record you may be cousins with half of that state of Mexico 😉
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Oh wow-that is a wild story of coincidence-great to learn. He and his father liked the women-I wonder how many kids they fathered?
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Fascinating! Family stories are the best!
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Thank you for stopping by, Donna. I hope you found something that will bring you back!
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My cousin went in one of those family tree websites. She’s been digging up relatives And stories left and right. But it’s a lot of work.
That’s a great story.
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I’ve gathered a lot of family info for my mother’s side but I haven’t ever had anyone to give me basics for my dad’s family. But I should try. I’m thinking that enough time has passed since the last time I tried that maybe one of my cousins has done some work on this. I’ll have to give it a try!
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