Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Who am I?

I must have been standing nearby when the genealogy bug bit my dad. Cause it's in my bloodstream too.
Who am I?
 I'm Michele Frey. I was born a Newswanger. I come from Sauders, Zimmermans, Weavers, and Shirks. (The kind that couldn't come up with names other than Joseph & Peter.) In that line, I can trace back, way back. Me, Aaron, George, Esther, Peter, Joseph, Peter, Joseph, Peter and on back thru to when Peter & Maria came across the ocean to America.
 Should I choose to go back thru the Sauders, or Weavers. I could do that. And tell me, who in Lancaster Co. doesn't know of the existence of the Zimmerman Book. I come from a long line of talented people. Entrepreneurs, Iinventors, Singers, Engineers. (drill a tunnel thru a Swiss mountain from both ends and meet in the middle kind of engineers.) People who helped out others in need. People I've never met, but their stories I have heard many times over.
  I'm related to so many people, & alot of them, I know that I'm related to them.
  Not so in my husbands family.
  A recent genealogy book re sparked my interest into his family. When following his family back, it stops at his Grandfather. He was a foster child. His last name at birth was Frey, or Fry. We don't know for sure which one. He has 2 brothers. At least that's what we think. The book that I read recently said at 17 he went back to live with his birth parents for a brief time, but left because it wasn't a nice situation. That was new information for us. He died in 2006.
  For someone like me who can run into someone at Walmart and possibly be related, and possibly know how we are related, I find this situation frustrating and somewhat sad.
  When I run across someone on facebook with the same last name-spelled either way. I search their faces for familial resemblance. I search county websites for news of people with the same last name. I've spent hours searching obituaries for women who would have been born the same year Grandpa's mom was born. I attempt to find places that give free information like birth records. I have news for you. Even free birth records online are not free. I hope that someday. Hopefully sooner rather than later, that I can get some answers. I'm not looking for a big Frey/Fry family hug, or even a reunion. I just want to know where he comes from.
  The odds of me even knowing my husband are very slim, had it not been for grandpa's mom giving him up. It's a startling idea. How one choice can absolutely change many lives. Grandpa Frey was raised in a Christian family. Because of that choice, I have a husband with a Christian heritage that cannot be replaced, no matter what the genealogy search uncovers.

5 comments:

  1. Love this. No matter if your posts are serious, funny, or qwerky, they always make me laugh at some point. The Frey hug, family reunion thing made me chuckle. -Lucy

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  2. Wonder if I'm a long lost cousin! My mom was a Frey - come from a long line of Freys - all good Mennonites from Switzerland!

    But what a blessing that even if your grandfather was from a sad family setting the Lord gave him a chance to have a Godly heritage. That is more important then blood lines!
    Gina

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    1. I wonder too! Someone once said it doesn't matter how its spelled Fry/Frey/Frye they all started out the same :)

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  3. You know... I think we may have grown up going to the same church. Sharon Mennonite. Do you have a sister Yavonne? She is still good friends with my sister Gladys. ;)

    I was a Myers. The oldest girl of, now, nine siblings. At the time there weren't that many of us. :)

    This post makes me chuckle. MY hubby didn't come from Mennonite background. He CANNOT figure out how in the world I "know" so many people. Everywhere I go... I'm either related or know enough to connect the dots. :) IT is a goodly and Godly heritage that I am most grateful for.

    See? I just connected the dots here, too. (At least I think so... until you confirm otherwise.)

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    1. absolutely! That is too funny. Yes, Yvonne is my sister, and we definitely know Gladys. :) I think the Sharon days may have been before I was born tho. At least before the "remembering" years :) I love connecting "dots" like these! :)

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