Sometimes, no matter how carefully you think you are looking, surprises pop up. Every day except for rainy or snowy days, I take an early morning walk. I usually walk the same way with some variations. The other day, someone stopped me while I was walking to see an unusual bird. While I was fumbling with my phone to open my camera, of course it flew away. I stood where I was for a few minutes, looking to see if I could find it and when I didn’t, I resumed my walk, but slower.

This time, I saw what had been hidden before – an old wooden shed and some pieces or rusting equipment. I wish I knew what these were used for and when, but in the absence of documentation, I can invent my own scenario.

Today I was looking through some old emails, searching for attachments on a particular subject. I remember saving the attachments when I got them, but I have no idea where I put them. I finally found the emails dating to 2013 and 2014 and this time I put them in a clearly marked folder. What I noticed as I was opening each one, was an email from 2011 from a current client. I wondered what she had written to me about years before I started working on her research. The content of the email really surprised me. This woman, N, had written to A, one of my partner’s cousins. N wanted to know if Sora S. on her family tree was the same as Sora S. on A’s tree. A introduced N to me and said I would have the answer because I had more of the family’s records. The two Soras were not the same. Today though when I opened the trees in question, I discovered the families were connected.

Sora on N’s tree had several siblings. Her sister Khaya married Moshe who is my partner’s great-great-grandfather! Moshe is A’s great-great-granduncle.

The relationships were hiding just out of sight. The lesson? Keep looking. Review records previously seen, do it again and again – no telling what you’ll find.