This record, a photocopy of my maternal grandfathers application for his social security card, was a first for many things. It was the first genealogical record I had sent for in my family research. I remember how I sent off my request with a kiss on the the flap of the envelope after I sealed it and a prayer that the record still existed. And then forcibly putting it at the back of my thoughts while I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Then one day there it was in my mailbox, I remember feeling nervous as I opened the envelope praying what I was hoping for was there, and it was. As I looked at the form I felt as though my grandfather was handing it to me, for the first I was learning the names of his parents, not with words but with the familiarity of his handwriting. It came back to me how I always admired his handwriting, it seemed to be strong and sure of it self. Funny how seeing it still reminds me how safe I felt with him and I knew he loved me and it came back to me that day looking at his handwriting.
The other thing that happened that day, that I credit my grandfather with, when I pulled the mail from the mailbox that day stuck to the envelope that this record was in, literally stuck to it was another envelope that had gotten a corner stuck up under the flap of the envelope holding this record that was from a long lost cousin I had been unsuccessfully looking for. Seems she was looking for me also and she found an older address for us where She wrote to me, the people living there were our tenants and they returned her letter to her but gave her our current address at the time. I was shocked to say least but had no doubts that my grandparents had a hand in our reconnecting.
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