Year gone where ?

year gone

1. where to?
   1. new year
      1. new you

   2. fresh dreams
      1. clean slate
         1. hopes high
            1. life great
   
   

Happy New Year!

1. I've been given a new lease on life. Finding out I had cancer, combined with the tragic events of September 11, has caused me to rethink my priorities, eliminate time wasting bad habits, and strive to live my life with gusto. I want to see more of the little things--laughter, family, friends, food...--and less of other non important things.
This new year has no history. As genealogists we're very aware of history and as I live day to day, I plan to make 2002's history the best I can. I might not be able to influence global peace but I can be a better humanitarian, a better parent and a better cousin.
I have never been one to make new year's resolutions. I have, on the other hand, set goals for myself. Some of which have had success. The following is a list of goals, resolutions for Heycuz. I need your help to see if I'm on the right track. So please send in your comments - criticisms, praise, other goals etc.
Heycuz's New Year Resolutions!
2. Reduce the number of errors in the heycuz database
3. Post updates and corrections in a much more timely manner
4. Have links and contacts to other "cousins" easily available
5. Double, no triple, pages in the Family Album
6. Share more transcriptions of documents on the newsgroup
7. Digitalize all documents (wills, bibles, deeds, licenses, photographs...) and make them available
8. Put Grandma's Secret Recipes online
9. Make research safe--In case of disaster, have backup of Heycuz in the hands of other people
10. Spend more time, more efficiently, at the library
11. For each of us to advance a generation. In my case I want to:
    2. find proof of parentage of Owen Sullivan
    3. solve the Harrison/Thorn puzzle
    4. locate the Rennies in Scotland

2. And finally, I hope we all take the time to leave something of value for our descendants by recording our history through a diary, scrapbook or audio/video tapes.

I wish all of my cousins a healthy, happy, prosperous, and successful New Year.

1. Love,
1. April
2. Heycuz, What's New?: December 2001

http://heycuz.net/docs/NEW/2001_12_01_archive.html

Happy Birthday, You Have Cancer

1. I bet you thought I deserted you? Unfortunately, I've not had the strength lately to keep up with this site or respond to your emails. The good news is that finally, after three months of hospital and doctor's visits, they finally know what the problem is. On the day before my 40th birthday, the results were in. I have lymphoma. The doctor's say it is the best cancer to have if you're going to get cancer and their hopes are high. They let me out of the hospital long enough for Steve and I to have our yearly vacation to Palm Springs. We had a wonderful time but now its time for me to go back to the hospital and begin treatment. It's not all that bad, because the doctor's had such a hard time diagnosing me, I have gotten the best of the best care. If, however, you mention me in your prayers, I would greatly appreciate it.
Enough of that, if you have queries please write to Heycuz directly as Steven is unable to answer all of your emails. I have asked the members to take over the duties of answering the queries so you won't be left in the cold. I will not be able to do the daily birthday list, however until they let me out of the hospital. They say it should be at least six months, so please be patient.
Concerns: Yes, I know a few of you have a very specific concern about the recent publication of the heycuz database all over the web. Specifically, you are angry that information you gave to me in confidence, including private information on living individuals, is being published by Martha Sullivan Smith on at least 5 different websites. It also appears that the gedcom she is using is over 2 years old meaning there have been a lot of corrections since then. It has always been my policy to share information with all members of Heycuz and so I did send her the entire gedcom as I have sent many of you. Unfortunately, I did not edit out living individuals as I had no reason not to trust a "cousin". I deeply regret any pain my naive actions have caused you. Like many of you, I have written a few letters to her, which have gone unanswered. The next step is to take it to the administrators of the websites who have allowed her to do this. Some of you have already done this. I notice you have also used the "post it" feature on some of the websites to correct the information.My recent illness has limited the amount of time I can spend on this problem. You have been so wonderfully understanding to me about this and I want to thank you for that. Again, I am deeply, deeply sorry.
   1. Love,
3. April
4. Heycuz, What's New?: July 2001

http://heycuz.net/docs/NEW/2001_07_01_archive.html

It's Spring!

1. Let me walk with you amid the emerald woodlands and capture the bountiful wonders of nature. I remember the awe and wonder I felt as a child whenever new flowers bloomed. This is the place where my memories come alive and my spirit is renewed. Tomorrow, come walk with me and let us find the wonders together.

2. If you think my behavior lately is giddie, child-like or just plain nonsense, please forgive me. I have no excuse. Unless you consider that it is Spring-- known as the season of love, new beginnings, and housecleaning. (Although I wonder how they all got tied in together.) Or it could be that I've had some great breakthroughs in my own family line. Or it could be that I've found--rather they've found me--some new cousins! It's always exciting when we meet new cousins, but this is especially exciting for me because they are from a branch that I have had to go it alone in my research because I had found no other connections before. These are my Cornells. In just a few days between I received emails from not one but two different lines of descendants of Edmund Cornell and Laura Allen. I could SCREAM with delight!
Many of you Heycuz members are Sullivan or Harp descendants and therefore have lots of cousins to correspond with. I am also a Sullivan and a Harp so I value all the give and take, the humor, the thoughfulness, and the general greatness that we've inherited. All kidding aside, we also have other lines, that for whatever reasons stay hidden from view leaving us to search under every rock, shrub, and riverbed until something miraculous happens.
As usual, I was reading my emails one morning when I happened to come upon a querry about a Laura Allen. "Do you know anything about a Laura Allen who married a Ed Cornell?" Such a simple question but I spilled my coffee, read it over and over three times. I answered it and quickly got a reply, "Hello Cuz!" Three thousand miles away from me in Massachussetts, my new "cousin" Darrell couldn't have been closer. So, who are Ed Cornell and Laura Allen? I'm glad you asked. My grandmother Ruby Rennie, is the daughter of James Thomas Harrison and Minnie Cornell. Minnie is the daughter of Edmund Cornell and Laura Allen. My cousin, Darrell Stroh, is the great grandson of Edmund and Laura's son David Cornell and Rachel Joiner. So we began to exchange information and photographs. Then, Darrell mentions another cousin! Phyllis Masters is the granddaughter of Edmund and Laura's son, George Cornell who married Alice Sheldon. We've been having a great time getting to know each other, exchanging family stories, photographs and genealogies. Darrell was also able to solve a mystery in our family. We had a photograph for a long time and didn't know who it was. He gave the photograph to his Aunt who not only told us it was my Great Grandfather Tom Harrison, but that he had served in the Spanish-American war. Imagine not even recognizing your own great grandfather much less not even knowing he was a veteran. Then, I find out from Phyllis that her grandfather, Virgil, the son of George Cornell, lived in Riverside, California until his death and that his family still lived there. That's less than a two-hour drive from me! There were more cousins out there!
Moving on
Anyway, let's just say it's been an incredible start for Spring. I've done the usual spring cleaning on the site, and so the family and individual cards are all new. That is why the listing of updates and additions has not been added in this column.
I have also added a new "Share the Wealth" site which has scans of vital records available online. I have slowly begun scanning and posting some records that I have collected or have been submitted to me. I urge you to take a look. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I hope to get more up soon. Also if you would like to post some of your vital records for others to view, let me know and I'll post those also. Right now there is no index to the records. They are numbered according to the Heycuz Source Number as listed in the source index.
I have also updated the Players List which includes members of the Heycuz newsgroup. If you want to have your surnames added, please write to me.
We have some new submissions in the "Past Lane" section which deals in recollections and memories of our ancestors. One is The Life Story of Verla G. Knight. She was the daughter of Norman Allen Sullivan and Mona Louella Stinson. Charlton Queen has contributed a piece titled My Confederate Ancestors.
Coming up
Many of you are wondering about the Family Cookbook. Well, I've had a quandry with that. There were so many wonderful stories included with the recipes that I've decided to switch around the layout making the stories, not the recipes, the focus of the book. The recipe's will still be there, but they will be sidebars to the story. I am wrapping that up and plan to include an index in Grandma's Secret Recipes so you will be able to locate a specific recipe quickly, such as JoJo's slickerdowns or Martha's sassafrass tea.
The Family Album is yet to be updated. With my new cousins, I have a lot more pictures to add and plan to get to that shortly.
I'm off
Well, I've nothing more to say! Can you imagine? Just keep the information rolling in and hopefully we'll all have a lot more cousins to add to our site. Best wishes.
   1. Love,
3. April
4. Heycuz, What's New?: April 2001

http://heycuz.net/docs/NEW/2001_04_01_archive.html