Great Aunt Turns 102
My Great-Great Aunt Florence turned 102 last month. She’s my Great Grandmother Mary Andrade Cardoza’s only sister. They were both born in Azores in the early 1900’s and came to America around 1920. A lot of my ancestry search has been lacking in this area of my family tree, I’ve been at cross roads or ancestry block. Sadly, when I began this search my Grandmother was already in stages of dementia.
An article was written about my Great-Great Aunt Florence last month, celebrating her 102nd birthday. A lof of the information in the article contradicted what was told to me by family members. It made me realize I might have a lot of hiccups to correct. I am going back to the source before any more time passes. Thankfully her son and daughter-in-law might be able shed more light. Researching a family lineage is long and tasking. My Dad’s family has proven more fruitful, even in finding that I could back as far as the 5th and 6th century. Then there is the matter of opinion. One family member’s recollection of stories can easily throw a wrench in a families lineage.
It’s amazing my Great-Great Aunt is still pushing along but truly is it a good thing to live so long. I have my doubts but my aunt certainly has seen so much change in her lifetime. At her 100th Birthday celebration, I had loaded scans of old photos of her from the 20’s to the 40’s. She had three responses to seeing the images. First there was the initial reaction, seeing a machine held in hand, with a flat screen and images changing at the touch of a finger. She was so puzzled how the images got there.
The second reaction was happiness of tears seeing photos of herself with her siblings in earlier years. I remember my Great Aunt and my Great Grandmother being extremely close although there was a 9 year difference between them. The third reaction was negative because I also had photos of her ex-husband, although I believe they never were officially divorced. I learned a lot about my Great-Great Uncle during that visit. Every family has a lot of dark skeleton’s in their past. While it’s probably wise to let them die, it also provides a lot of information that gives answers to many questions in the future. Of coarse I am not going shell out those stories here. I am leaving that for my biography…….just kidding.
Happy 102nd Florence!