Meeting Your Family
Genealogy research can yield surprising results.
It's nice to know that our website is for more than just noting the information and the deeds of the dear departed! Tamryn Glaser sent me a note crediting the website with bringing together her and her second cousin, Leigh Diersing. (Tamryn's and Leigh's grandparents were brothers - Addison Wayt Horton and Thomas Robert Horton, respectively. Rather than interpret, I'll let the cousins tell a nice story in their own words:
"Several years ago my brother-in-law was dating a girl named Missy and I met her at a couple of family gatherings," Tamryn notes. "This was before I started researching the family and her name meant nothing to me. Thankfully she came to her senses and dumped my brother-in-law, but since that time I have had the opportunity to speak to her on the phone a couple of times. Missy works for a company that does work at our house.
"One day a few months ago, my husband came in to the house to tell me there was a lady outside that I was going to want to talk to. The woman told my husband she was looking for Tamryn Glaser that was related to the Horton family. Turned out the woman was Missy's sister, Leigh. She had recently come across your site and saw that someone had provided info on Thomas and Angela Horton, her grandparents and Toni Rae Horton Edwards, her mother. She saw that you had listed me as the person who had provided the info. With Adam and Addie moving their family here from Indiana, and her grandfather living in Cincinnati until his death, she was hoping that I was living in the area.
"She checked the phone book and found a listing for a Jeff and Tammy Glaser in Cincinnati, but was never able to reach anyone at the number. She mentioned to her sister about the info and the person who provided it. The following morning Missy called Leigh and told her that the guy she used to date had a brother named Jeff and that his wife had an unusual name, and that it was worth a shot. Leigh, her husband and son live less than 2 blocks from me. Since the first meeting we have seen each other several times to talk about the family.
"During the holidays I work at the mall for Waldenbooks and Leigh and some of her friends go there in the winter time to walk so that has given us the opportunity to see each other almost every day. Some days we are able to talk at length and other days we barely get a chance to say hello. Needless to say it was a nice surprise to find out that we were related, lived so close, and that a few years back that I had met Missy. Leigh has met my mother and they have shared stories, and my mother was able to answer a few questions about Thomas Horton that Leigh had.
"I will be finishing up the season next week. My mother, Leigh and I making plans to meet with one of Glen Horton's daughters. For years, she and my mother have lived next door to each other and didn't know it until this past year shortly after Leigh found me. She has lots of pictures and I'm sure she has her own stories to tell.
Leigh adds: "That is pretty much how it happened...Just to let you know why I started looking for Tamryn, my sister and I didn't know if our grandfather's brothers and sister had any children. My grandfather died pretty young and my grandmother didn't keep in contact with anyone except his sister, and she died before my grandmother. My mother didn't know if she had any living relatives from that side. We only knew our family from my grandmother. I wanted to know if we had any relatives on that side so I started looking and doing research which is what brought us to your website."