Who are your people?

My mother-in-law had a funny phrase that I hear from time to time when she would first meet someone. She'd say, "And who are your people?" I think this is an old Southern term coming from the days when knowing someones family had a lot to do with the person's identity and character. Of course that just doesn't fly with today's independent thinkers.

For the past couple years, I have been chipping away at my geneology. I mentioned before that my maternal grandmother was divorced in the 1920's--a most unusual circumstance for that time era. I had always heard, "He left her for another woman!" Scandal! My grandmother had 3 small children, the oldest of whom was my mother. So there was very little I knew about my mother's family on her father's side. But the best thing about this continuing saga was finding my mother's half-sister, Earline Vass Wallace. What a discovery.

It is amazing how much she and my mother have in common. The last time Earline saw my mother was when she was 6 years old and my mother was probably in her mid-20's. Although they weren't in contact, the similarities are many. Red is their favorite color, both owned ceramic shops, I used to catch the city bus to VCU right near Earline's ceramic shop--in fact we lived very close to each other for several years unknowingly! Their sweet loving dispositions are so similar. My mother was the type of person that could keep a secret and would never do anything to hurt or harm another's feelings or well-being. Earline is the same way.

Earline and I have enjoyed getting to know each other. We've gone hunting for headstones--and found John J. Davis's (my Great Grandmother's father) tombstone. We've toured Stomping Branch Farm--the old Davis homestead, and the handsome Victorian house that Luther Vass built in Elmont, Virginia where my mother and her sister and brother were all born. We have traveled to various courthouses and museums looking for any scrap of family history available. And we still have a long way to go. Earline grew up in the area and had the privilege of knowing Aunts, Uncles and relatives. This has been a huge advantage. And along the way, we've met wonderful people who have helped us, as well as discovering "new" relatives like John Henry Taylor! It's been a fun adventure.

Monday we are going to visit a relative that Earline knows but had lost touch with. I can't wait. It's a good life!