Found

I had the coolest thing happen to me recently.  Some of you may remember my family history post written last summer. In it I posted a picture of this family that I found in my grandpa's old pictures.

I had taken this picture and many others to a reunion last year hoping to get the pictures identified. I had a feeling the pictures had to be of relatives of my great-grandmother.  I was disappointed when not one person could identify the couple dozen pictures I had on display.  The reunion organizer and Valley newspaper editor told me she could put the pictures in the paper and maybe someone might recognize them. I had serious doubts about it, but I agreed to it. 

 About 4-6 weeks ago the first picture, this picture appeared in the newspaper and within a week the editor called me and said the picture had been identified. I couldn't believe it! The story behind the discovery is the coolest part. The woman who called is from Ogden, over the mountain, and out of range of the newspaper. She happened to be at the Union Station in Ogden eating lunch one day during the two weeks that this newspaper would be sitting there on a table somewhere. (Valley newspapers  can be found at various places in Ogden including the library and a few businesses.) Her daughter who was with her picked up the newspaper and when she got to this picture turned to her mother and said, "Mom, isn't this a picture of your grandmother?"

The mother and daughter both used to love looking at this picture and many other pictures in an album, but when her grandmother died her aunt threw away all the pictures. She was devastated.  Imagine her finding this picture in the newspaper so many years later.  

A couple of days ago I visited her and gave her the original picture and another one that matched.

Her name is Lou Jean, same as my grandma.

Turns out, her uncle, the baby in the picture, was married to my great-grandmother's cousin Arvina. I'm not sure why my great-grandma had their picture, but it seems like it was all meant to be. 

Now I have the number of her cousin who I can give more pictures to. 

 This whole experience solidified my testimony of the fact that God loves us and will help us in everything we do, great or small. We just have to act.  And I just like to think that my great-grandmother and her cousin Arvina gave each other high-fives in heaven when this all happened. Maybe more like hugs. Yeah.