Family Matters

As most of you reading this blog know, I kind of have an obsession with history and genealogy -- anything to do with the past. 

Well at the behest of someone I got a Facebook page.  I’ve made quite a few contacts there, including one called Reign-Louise Jolina. 

If the name Jolina sounds familiar, it should.  It’s my paternal grandmother’s last name.  It’s also one-half of my father’s last name, the other half, of course, being Plumb. 

Apparently I have another family I never knew about.  I mean, I suspected all of this… but to have it confirmed, well, it’s a surprise.  I knew my grandmother was a bit of a flirt, and I knew my grandmother was very charming and had a lot of admirers of the opposite sex, but there’s still so many un-answered questions.   

So Reign-Louise’s daughter writes:

I think we're so related I forgot to tell you that RL's dad was Jamie Jolina's son. It just mean you and RL were first cousins.

Goodness, if my tangled family-tree doesn’t get any crazier…you mean I have an uncle somewhere?  And more cousins? 

But wait, there’s more.  The conversation continues. 

Marlon - RL's dad, was also left by Jamie at the hospital and was just claimed by his dad with a note from Jamie, from then on they haven't heard from her anymore.

And…my response:

Apparently Jamie left RL and her dad... for my grandpa. That's the only way I can see it happening. My grandfather was smitten with her and wanted to marry her, but she didn't wed him either. According to my grandma's diary, she had real reservations about marriage in general and was shocked that she was pregnant with my dad. Seems like she left behind a trail of broken hearts. :(

And to top it off, mom wasn’t done with her truth serum.  Apparently she spent part of her childhood in Twinbrook and moved to Sunset after turning YA.  When her dad disappeared and her mom died, she went to stay with a family friend, Edmund Browning, who wasn’t much older than she was.