At a recent family gathering, I visited with a distant relative. Having never met before, with no common bond of shared experiences, you might think conversation could have been challenging. It was anything but, as we quickly fell into discussion about our shared family tree. Mom, the family genealogist, had taken it upon herself decades earlier to trace the lineage, history, and connections for all of us within the Wellbrock family. She diligently sought out historical records, visiting libraries, museums, and state archives to connect as many strands as possible. Mom also had a very active letter-writing campaign, reaching out to relatives in America and Germany, and visiting with many of them while traveling here and abroad.
These efforts resulted in thick 3-ring binders, filled with a wealth of family history dating back many generations and distributed to untold numbers of Wellbrocks. My cousin and I talked about how Mom went beyond basic genealogy info – names, relationships, and important dates such as birth, baptism, marriage, death – and added personalized information, our stories, about all of us. Things like the work we did, where we lived, and our hobbies were included, helping to bring each of our histories vividly to life. My distant cousin and I joked that we would both go home and read about each other!
Within our more immediate families, for years Mom compiled detailed scrapbooks for each of her own grandchildren: Krystle, Brittany, Trey, Andrew and Abigail. My sister, Belinda, and I were generally aware of these efforts, though lost track of progress; this was especially so as Mom’s health deteriorated over the years. We were quite surprised, then, a few short months after her funeral, when Abigail and Andrew were presented with the very unexpected Christmas gifts of their scrapbooks! Along with Dad, we reminisced, laughed and told stories as we perused the memories that Mom preserved for us. Mom, always the genealogist at heart, would have been pleased that the stories and lives that she lovingly chronicled will continue to be remembered.
Thank you, Mom, for these unexpected gifts, and for having the foresight of making so many connections that keep us together!
A few more miles 