March 28th - I Did It!

It was a rainy, ugly day today - the kind where getting out of bed is not even fun.  But, I get out of bed anyway - can't stand to lie there once I am awake!  Once I got the dishwasher going after breakfast, I went straight to the computer and opened up all the family history stuff.  And, yes, I spent the rest of the day right there!

I have been working on my grandfather's siblings.  I already had their basic information, but I have been trying to fill in their stories and work on their children.  I spent most of the day today working on Sofus, who drank strychnine and died when he was about 21 in 1915.  He had married a young woman whose parents were very much opposed to him.  When she had a baby, she stayed at her parents for the laying in.  Right after the baby was born, it died.  Whether of natural causes or by a little help from the wife's mother has always been a matter of dispute in the family.  She then refused to let Sofus see her daughter and told him he would never see her again.  In his despair, he bought the poison on his way home and had already had some by the time he got there and realized what a mistake he had made.  They got a doctor and did everything to save him, but it was futile.  I had always wondered about the wife, Mary.  How did the rest of her life go?  It has taken a long time just to find out her name, but today I was able to work back and get a bit of a picture of the rest of her story.  She lived with her parents, eventually remarrying when she was 41 years old.  I have not found any additional children, but I still have a couple of places to look.  Bottom line, it was a fun day for me!

And then, to top off my day, we went over to babysit with the kids, so Lisa and David could have a date night.  They just went out to eat, but they still need that little time alone.  We had a ball with the kids.  As usual, they had us laughing.  They had just gotten into bed when Lisa and David got home, so they were back up within minutes.  I hope they eventually calmed down so everyone could sleep!