It all started with a conversation I had with my son, Michael. We were going through the family photo albums.
“Who’s that, Mom?” he said pointing to a couple in a posed photo taken by a professional photographer. In the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. if you wanted a photo, you went to a professional photographer. Ordinary folks rarely possessed cameras.
“No one knows the answer to that,” I said looking at the couple.
He turned the cardboard picture over, no date to be found, only the name Schultz.
“Well, it’s Gramma’s side of the family. At least I know that much.”
Then it dawned on me. They’re all gone; grandparents, parents, most cousins, aunts and uncles, my dad’s work crew. There is no one to ask. I know a lot of stuff, but I am on my own with whatever resources I can find to answer the unanswerable.
I am the repository of the family folklore, and there’s so much I don’t know.
“This house is a very, very fine house.”
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Annie Tillery Mysteries 