Saturday, September 26, 2009

Tired...

...of hearing bad news. I've just found out about a teacher who passed away from cancer this evening. He'd been ill since May. Another former coworker of mine passed away from a different form of cancer, less than 2 weeks ago - she was a few months younger than I am, and she leaves 2 young children. I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but it's been hard in 2009. In August, a friend's father (cancer) and one of Hubby's cousins (unknown how he died); in May & June, the last of my great-uncles (Alzheimer's complications), my father-in-law (heart and Parkinson's disease), and one of my dad's best friends (cancer).

Please consider supporting the American Cancer Society so we can find some answers to the many forms of this horrible disease.

Also, I'm tired of knitting on my Sea & Shells stole. I'm really close to the end of the skein; in fact, there's only about 10 grams left. If I'd stop playing Bejeweled, I could be done with it tomorrow! I'm not allowing myself to work on either of the sweaters I cast on recently until this is finished. Pictures will be forthcoming when it's finished and blocked.

However, I'm not tired of looking through the paperwork that my parents found when they went to the National Archives in San Bruno looking for information about my great-grandparents' immigration to the US from China. Mom apparently found about 90 pages worth of info, and I've been fascinated by it.

Turns out my great-grandfather was born in San Francisco in the basement of a building that housed his father's shoe store, and a white-owned saloon in the Chinatown area in 1877. We have the transcript of the interview that proved his identity as a native-born US resident, as well as the entrance papers and interview transcripts of his wife, and pictures of his twin daughters (I didn't know they were twins - I never met my great-aunts) and baby son, the great-uncle who died in May. My grandfather was the oldest of the children, and he decided to stay in China with his grandmother.

The transcripts provide a view into the world of Chinatown before the 1906 SF earthquake, and I'd like to map out the addresses given and correlate them with the historical records. I'd also like to try and look for more info on my great-great-grandparents, now that I have their names and when/why they came to the US.

Okay, Kathy - get off the computer. You're also tired and need to go to bed, especially since you are walking with No-blog-Rachel tomorrow morning. And then you need to take The Dork shopping for new pants before his senior portrait session tomorrow afternoon. Okay, now I feel old...

2 comments:

AlisonH said...

So many losses! Oh, Kathy, I'm so sorry. We had a year like that where I just wanted to yell out loud, Okay! NO. MORE. DYING. OKAY?!!

But on the genealogy: that's really cool. If you need any help looking up records, the Mormon Church has a lot of stuff on file. I know there's a branch of their genealogical library with computer access to everything they've got, up in Menlo Park, and I think there's one in San Jose, too? I can find out if you want.

Anonymous said...

healing peace to you and all affected by so many deaths. may be a good time to watch the movie called The Beautiful Truth, about a 15yo boy and his research into cancer cures. I just watched it yesterday and was very moved as well as informed about so many different aspects of what is and is not happening, what's legally allowed and not in the U.S. as ways to help folks heal from cancer. also offers facts about bottom line of ACS, along with other vital and missing pieces of the ongoing 'cancer cure' puzzle. peace and healing to you and all.