*(THIS WAS PUBLISHED JULY 2,2003 IN ROOTS REVIEW)

Over the last few years I have hit the RootsWeb Mailing Lists like
clockwork. I have left posts and gone to many websites in hopes of
finding out something about my father's family. (Thank you RootsWeb for
the free sources and the many helpful volunteers.)

Not long after I began to really dig, I found a cousin who sent me a
photo (the only one I have) of my grandfather. She also sent me copies
of death certificates, marriage licenses, old newspapers and many very
old photos of other ancestors and of headstones. This package of
information was too much for me to understand and absorb all at once.

Though I received this package from Sara HARPER a few years ago, I am
still going through it, and now I realize how much work and effort went
into it. There is no way I could ever thank her enough. What a sweet
woman to share all this with me and my family. I have so many brothers
and sisters, and nieces and nephews and more to share this with, but
I just could not photo all this (for each one) or remember it all, so
what was I to do?

I decided that I needed to create a roots file and share this
information. Having the busy lives that we have today, and not knowing
anyone nearby to show me the ropes, I soon gave up on that idea. I began
to save as much information as I could (along with the old pictures and
some documents) using my scanner and a free and easy website. Then Ibegan to
add my mother's family too, and before I knew it I had found so
many "cousins" and so many others added old photos and more info, and
all wanted to share (thank you so much), and my names and pages have
grown to almost a book now. Now I know that I must soon get
some sort ofsoftware to save all this information.

People can be so wonderful and so enlightening. Four years ago, I knew
nothing of my BULLOCH and THACKER families. While searching (and getting
so much info on my father's family (HARPER) up popped these surnames.
The best part of this story is the Internet. About the first of June I
got the shock of my life. On the Internet you can type in a name and up
pops all kinds of websites (mine included). I did not know that this
information I was saving and using for family, cousins and friends was
so easily opened and found by knowing just a name.

My bother had been promiscuous and carefree in his younger days. He had
a few children out there that we did not know about (they did not even
know about each other). Now in their twenties, these kids began to
search for their dad and his family, and went to a computer and typed in
his name, and low and behold up pops my website with photos and family
history and more info then they could ever dream of. The kids told me
they had stayed up most of the night poring through the information and
crying tears of joy. My mother and I both got phone calls and the kids
are coming to see their grandmother and the family they never met.

We are so happy that they have found us. We have been crying, laughing
and talking, and are full of joy daily. There is so much to share and
never enough time. We are having a big reunion on the Fourth of July
and will have a few days to get to know each other a bit.

My message is: Please share your genealogical research and make
someone's life a little fuller.
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AFTER THIS LETTER WAS PUBLISHED, I RECEIVED ABOUT 50 E-MAILS ASKING ME HOW TO MAKE A FREE WEB SITE, HOW WAS THE FAMILY REUNION, AND FOUND A FEW MORE COUSINS LOOKING FOR HARPER AND THACKER INFORMATION. HAVE EVEN HAD MANY PEOPLE OFFER MORE INFO ON THESE LINES, OR FAMILY LINES VERY CLOSE TO OURS. PEOPLE CAN BE WONDERFUL!
Family Found  :)
"OUR FAMILY"
4 JULY 2003
A WONDERFUL "UNION"!
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BEACH HOUSE AND JESSICA'S  "THANK YOU" LETTER TO ROOTS!