BJ Retirees blog helps kin find each other

I discovered another value to Harry's blog when Lionel Speranza of Cayuga Lake, NY (they spell and pronounce it differently than we do with Cuyahoga Falls), my late wife Monia's second cousin once removed, emailed me. We've never met. We didn't know about each other although Lionel lived near Beckley till 1950, when he was 10 years old and the family moved to Rochester, NY.

But Lionel, 68, in doing his genealogy research, came across Monia's obituary that I wrote in the Beacon Journal after her Feb. 4, 2004, death. When he figured out that Monia's maternal grandmother was a sibling of his paternal grandfather, Lionel wound up on the BJ Retirees blog. That's where he got my email address from the BJ Retirees email list, which Harry continually updates.

Lionel emailed me. I emailed back. We have connecting kin in our genealogy reports, and probably will be able to fill in each other's blanks. In part because the BJ Retirees blog is a valuable source of information, beyond just the posts.

Coincidentally, when Paula and I toured New York state last July, we had lunch at the Montage Restaurant, which has a great view of Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. And enjoyed Watkins Glen State Park, near Lionel's residence.

Thanks, Harry, for providing your lists.