Friday, November 6, 2009

It's a Small World!


On this past Sunday, I struck up a conversation with a woman inside the Hilton Hotel in Ft. Wayne before leaving for the airport. We had just attended the International Black Genealogy Summit and were all waiting for the shuttle when I discovered that she was from my father's hometown in Emporia, VA located in Greensville County. The lady lives in another state now. I don't remember how the conversation began--I think she may have asked where I was from and what places I research.

While we were on the shuttle, we talked more about the Emporia connection. During the conversation, I pulled out my cell phone and called a cousin (Carolyn) who is a lifelong resident of Emporia. My cousin asked me questions about the lady's family and I couldn't remember all of the details because I had put my notebook in my briefcase. So I handed the lady (Ethel) my cell phone. Cousin Carolyn and Ethel did not know each other, but both of them knew a lot of the same people from Emporia. Everyone on the shuttle had attended the conference and we all laughed as we listened to Ethel talking to my cousin Carolyn as if they had known each other for years.


Ethel's ancestors and my ancestors attended the same churches (Shiloh Baptist and Antioch Baptist.) One of her family members was also the community barber.

I'm looking forward to discovering more about the relationship between these two families.

Thank God for cell phone technology. Instead of waiting until I got home to call my cousin, I was able to use this technology to call her while Ethel was on the shuttle with me. Nothing replaces seeing her smiling face and hearing her excited voice as she talked to my cousin like they had know each other for years.

5 comments:

Barbara Poole said...

I liked this, also you gave me an idea for another blog post. Can you believe it has been a week now since your conference.

Amy Coffin said...

I love how you described the scene on the bus. How cool to make that connection!

Greta Koehl said...

This drives my daughters crazy when I strike up conversations like this; it's so nice to read about someone else doing this and how you can learn so much from "casual" conversations. Great post!

Darlene said...

Small, small, world!

Anonymous said...

Hi Dru,

Chills went through me when reading your post.

Isn't this what it's all about?
Finding out that we are possibly connected to folks on a shuttle bus who can share info about our Ancestors?!? AWESOME!!!

Peace,
"Guided by the Ancestors"