Reminisce

FAMILY TREE

English cousin gives new slant to family history

- PEGGY CLEMENS LAURITZEN, an accredited genealogis­t, writes and lectures about family history. Visit: misspeggy5­5.weebly.com

Just when we think we’ve researched our family pretty well, something new comes along to make us look more thoroughly.

Anne’s newfound English cousin brought up a lot of mysteries, which shows two things:

Our research is never quite complete.

We must be open to learning about what others discover for the family we think we know. Jack may have experience­d “shell shock,” now known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Without social services to help deal with the stress and horror of war, it appears Jack did what many soldiers have done through military history: He didn’t go home. And he didn’t talk about it. He simply started over.

Uncovering the reasons he chose to neglect his wife and the only child he would have, and leave them wondering in England, would be difficult. We do know Grandmothe­r felt family appearance was important.

Nature and nurture are certainly part of our makeup, as we discover when meeting new relatives.

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