Family Secrets

by Zina Abbott

  Jennie was sorry she asked.

  “As for why it involves studying history,” Mrs. Moore continued, “when I’m trying to find records for someone who lived a long time ago, I find that by learning the history of the people and places closest to where the person I am researching lived, it helps me understand what may have influenced that person. It answers a lot of questions.”

  “You mean, answers to questions your clients ask?”

  “Sometimes. Mostly, it helps me find out why those historical people did what they did. Why did they go here or there and not someplace else? I find the clues, and it helps to me locate the records about those people.”

  “Why don’t you just ask the family? Couldn’t they tell you where to find the person?”

  Donna Moore chuckled. “I am afraid not. Most young people are more interested in the here and now of their lives. Seldom do they learn much about older family members. By the time some of them develop an interest in the early lives of their grandparents or great-grandparents, those relatives have died.”

  Sounds like I’m not the only one who’s not excited about history, Jennie thought. And I never considered history being connected to my family.

  “I still would think people should know about their own families,” Jennie said.

  Mrs. Moore’s eyes twinkled. “How much do you know about your family, Jennie?”

  “As much as anybody, I guess,” Jennie shrugged. Uh, oh! I never should have gone there.

  “Let’s see. Okay with you?”

  “Sure,” Jennie dragged the word out, smiling as sweetly as she could manage. She decided to politely humor her neighbor even though she knew it was time to get back to her history project.

  “Do you know your parents’ full names?”

  “Sure I do, first, middle and last,” Jennie answered with confidence.

  “What is your mother’s maiden name?”

  “Umm, I’m pretty sure it’s Carpenter.

  “Wonderful! Not everyone your age knows their mother’s maiden name.” Mrs. Moore continued, “What about your grandparents. Do you know their full names?”

  “Let’s see, my dad’s parents are John and Amy Graves. Then there is Grandpa Mike and Grandma Jan Carpenter.”

  “Okay,” Mrs. Moore smiled. “Now come the bonus questions. It sounds to me like you used nicknames for some of your grandparents. Is John your grandfather’s given name, or is it short for something like Jonathan? Is Jan your grandma’s given name, or is it a nickname for Janet or Janice or something else?”

  Jennie shrugged. She had never thought about it before.

  Mrs. Moore continued, “What about Mike? Is the name he was given at birth Michael or Micah? What about middle names? Did any of your grandparents have middle names? Do they all go by their first names, or are any of them known by their middle name?”

  Jennie stared at Mrs. Moore. It was the first time she realized that she was not sure about the full names of her grandparents. Whether she was talking to them or sending them a card in the mail, the names she had given Mrs. Moore had always been enough. She looked down at the page in her history book in embarrassment.

  “I’m sorry, Jennie,” Mrs. Moore shook her head. “I didn’t mean to distract you from your history assignment by quizzing you about your family. But, now you have a bit of an idea of what I have to work with when a client hires me to find information about a great-great grandfather, for example. Like you, most people are not sure about details of all their known family members. So, one of the first things I must do is find out what I can about the full legal names of all the people between the person who hires me and the family member I am to try to find.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” said Jennie as she stared at her neighbor. Her thoughts were spinning in ways that had nothing to do with her history mid-term. All she could think about was her family. She knew these people very well and loved them, but she was not positive about something as basic as their full names.

  Mrs. Moore continued. “If you are curious about the legal names of your grandparents, now is the time to ask your family about it.”

  “I think I will,” said Jennie, now that her curiosity was fully aroused.

  “I’m going to give you another challenge.”

  “I don’t know about taking on anymore challenges.” Jennie laughed and shook her head. “This going back to school while working and taking care of my little boy is just about all the challenge I think I can handle for awhile.”

  “I know. That’s a problem many people face when it comes to learning more about their family. They are busy with everyday life. That’s what keeps me in business. But if most people only had the foresight to get some vital pieces of information about their family when they were younger…”

  “Okay, okay, what is your challenge,” Jennie cut her off with a laugh. She would accept the challenge, but not the lecture.

  “Don’t stop with just the names of your grandparents. Try to find out as much as you can about them,” Mrs. Moore suggested. “During the holidays, especially, is a good time to talk about the past. Keep going from one family member to another. Try to get them talking about themselves until you get all the answers on your list.”

  A list? What list? Jennie wondered.

  “Just be careful, though,” Donna Moore teased. “When you start learning more about your family, you might start to like history.”

  Jennie shook her head in disbelief.

  “That will never happen. There are no famous people in my family. My family history would be so boring.”

  “I’m going to tell you a secret that not very many people understand, Jennie,” Mrs. Moore warned. “Nobody has a boring family history. Right now, with your classes, you are learning the big picture of history, the macro view, if you will. You probably are expected to memorize a lot of names and dates that don’t mean much to you right now. But family history is the micro view about real, everyday people who are important to your life because a little bit of them are part of who you are. As you learn about them, each of them can become real to you. That’s when things get really interesting.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Jennie said carefully. “I think if you listened to my family talk about our day-to-day lives, you would realize how very not-interesting we are.”

  “That’s because you’re too close, dear,” assured Mrs. Moore. “If you were able to step back from the minutiae of day-to-day interactions, and look at the overall story, you would realize how engrossing your family actually is. Believe me, your descendents one hundred years from now will find your life fascinating.”

  Jennie rolled her eyes. She seriously doubted that! It was definitely time to get back to her term paper.

  “I’ll talk to my family and see what I can learn,” Jennie assured Mrs. Moore.

  “Great! I would love to know what you find out and how you look at family history after you do.”

  “Okay. But first I have to survive this mid-term. And what is this list you’re talking about? I hope it‘s not long and complicated, because I’m not into long and complicated right now.”

  “I promise you, it’s simple. All you need to remember is eight simple kinds of information to get you started.”

  Jennie grabbed a fresh piece of paper and started writing.

  “Full legal names including maiden names and nicknames,” Donna Moore started. “Relationships between family members. Dates and places of births, marriages and deaths.”

  “I guess that’s easy enough.”

  “Also, try to write down as many family stories as your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles or great-grandparents will share with you.”

  Jennie took a deep breath. She wasn’t too keen on listening to a bunch of older family members reminisce about the past.

  “I’m not sure about gathering family stories, Mrs. Moore. That sounds like a lot of work.”

  “Oh, they’re fun, believe me. Stop by my house when you get a chance, Jenn
ie. I’ll give you some forms that will help you organize all your information. Better yet, I’ll show you how to get a free database so you can keep track of everything on your computer.”

  “Ahhh…I don’t think I want to get that involved, Mrs. Moore, but thanks for the offer.”

  “The offer still stands. As for today, have you tried the college library for your mid-term research?”

  “Yes, I went there first,” Jennie said. “I’m not finding the sources I really need here, but part of the assignment is to research in two different library systems. So, here I am at the local library. I think the last time I came here was when I was in the eighth grade. A lot has changed.”

  “This isn’t the college library, but it has a pretty good collection for historical research. Perhaps I can help you find some good sources.”

  Jennie smiled, feeling slightly less tired. It was the best offer she had received that day.

  Chapter 2 – Jennie

  Just as Jennie started stuffing her laptop and books into her backpack, she looked up at the man approaching her. Her eyes lit up when she realized it was Quinn, one of her history class study partners. Her pulse quickened.

  She could not hold back her smile. She considered him to be good-looking with his lanky, lean body and his gray eyes, a straight nose and strong chin. His ash blond hair didn’t sport the stylish male look carefully cultivated by so many other students. His usual hair style was created by his bicycle helmet being jammed down on his head most of the time, a consequence of him being on the cycling team and cycling being his preferred mode of transportation. Cycling was not one of the more glamorous sports, but it did help him stay fit.

  Stop it! Jennie ordered herself as she looked away. You have a husband, even if he has turned his back on you.

  “Hey, you aren’t packing up and leaving, are you, Jennie?” Quinn asked as he set his stack of books on the library table—her table, now that Mrs. Moore had left for the day.

  Did Jennie detected disappointment in his voice, or was it her hopeful imagination speaking?

  “I’m afraid so. My brain feels numb, thanks to this mid-term. Why, oh why can’t I just do my research online and let it go at that?”

  “What? And miss out on the sage knowledge in all these ancient tomes?” Quinn asked with a hint of sarcasm. “At least the card catalog, as Mr. Martin still calls it, is computerized now. This, of course, makes the term ‘card catalog’ a misnomer. It’s no longer a cabinet of little narrow drawers full of index cards.”

  “Misnomer?” Jennie asked, raising an eyebrow. Then, knowing full well what the word meant, she teased, “Sounds like a mythical elf.”

  “That means it is misnamed,” said Quinn, oblivious to her humor. “There are no longer any cards involved. Real card catalogs are now antiquated. Which it is why it is now called the library catalog.”

  Then Quinn noticed Jennie’s expression as she struggled to keep a straight face.

  “But, then, you knew that,” he finished, deflated.

  “Whatever, Quinn,” Jennie laughed, wondering why she felt attracted to this know-it-all. Although still tired, she felt somehow lighter and more alive inside as she talked to Quinn. “As long as everyone knows what you are talking about, I guess communication has taken place. I’ll bet my neighbor, Mrs. Moore, who was in here a little while ago, still thinks of it as a card catalog. She is old-school in a lot of ways. But, I tell you, she sure knows how to search the current system and order books from other libraries. Unfortunately, for this paper, I won’t have time to order anything not already in this building and get them here.”

  “That’s good. Not that you don’t have time for inter-library books to get here, but that your neighbor knows how to do that. A lot of older people barely know how to turn on a computer.”

  “Oh, she’s pretty computer-savvy. I mean, I would love to have her laptop. She really knows her way around this library. She helped me find some great references for my paper.”

  Quinn reached for some of Jennie’s notes that she had not put with her school work.

  “And your topic is, what?” he asked as he looked at one of her papers.

  “Events leading up to the Civil War.”

  “So, what does this have to do with events? ‘Legal names. Maiden names. Where & when born married died.’ Looks like you are working on historical people instead.”

  “Not exactly,” replied Jennie, snatching the paper from Quinn and stuffing it into a side pocket of her backpack.

  “I know I steered clear of any topics that have to do with biographies and character studies,” he continued. “Why would I want to know the intimately minute details of the lives of a bunch of dead people? The events that took place before our time and the way one situation built upon another to reach the culmination, that is what has significance for us today.”

  “In other words, you believe it is historical events, not people, which affect our lives today?”

  “I just said that.”

  “In a manner of speaking. It’s called active listening, Quinn. It shows I heard you and understood what you said. After you say something, I repeat it back to you it in slightly different words.”

  In Quinn’s case, she repeated it in much simpler different words.

  “Turning psych major on me, are you?”

  “No. I’m still looking at general education for my teaching degree. I guess you do need to understand a bit about psychology if you are going to survive working with a classroom of thirty children, though.”

  “You did a nice job of changing the subject. I still cannot understand why you want to focus on the minutiae surrounding individuals instead of the events that shaped history.”

  Jennie thought about what he just said. Quinn’s viewpoint did not surprise her, since she knew he was not always comfortable around a lot of people. She had to admit that in many ways she shared his point-of-view. However, her discussion with Mrs. Moore earlier that day had struck a chord in her. She decided to play devil’s advocate with Quinn, not only to see how far she could get with him, but to sort out her own thoughts on the subject as well.

  “Consider this, Quinn. Maybe past events do not shape us today as much as they did the people who lived at the time those events took place. Take the Civil War, for instance. I know it’s a part of our country’s history, but it did not affect me the same way as those who fought in it or had the battles raging around their homes.”

  “Oh, I agree there. But those events made a difference as far as whether or not we are one nation or two within the boundaries of our present nation. The outcome of that war had a tremendous effect on the political direction this nation has taken in the years since.”

  “I agree, but stay with me, Quinn. Don’t you think that those people who lived at the time the events took place—what they thought and how they felt—led them to act the way they did? Would that not have had the trickle-down influence on us living today? Maybe it is because we study how those historical events affected them as individuals that we better understand the decisions they made and the actions they took that led society to where we are today.”

  “Well, that’s an interesting concept, although I don’t agree. Where did you come up with that idea, anyway?”

  “A friend got me thinking.”

  “Which leads me back to what I was asking earlier,” said Quinn. “What were those questions on that piece of paper all about? You know, the paper you so hurriedly hid away so I wouldn’t read it.”

  “Those are my reminders of the questions I want to ask some members of my family.”

  “Your family?” asked Quinn. It was his turn to tease. “Are you writing a book, or something? Are they famous celebrities, and you are writing an exposé, perhaps?”

  “No, no one famous in my family.” Jennie shook her head, not sure if she wanted to share the conversation between her and Mrs. Moore with Quinn yet. “I’m just curious about a few things. Here I live with my parents and brother, spend h
olidays with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, yet there are some very basic facts about these people that I’m really not sure of. You know, like their real names that are on their birth certificates.”

  “What difference does it make in the overall scheme of things if you know the names on their birth certificates or where they were born? As long as you know who they are, and everyone knows who you’re talking about when you refer to them with whatever name you know them by, why should it be that important?”

  Jennie felt the feeling of annoyance starting to build inside her.

  “You are right, Mr. Q-Geek, Nerd-Queen, Cycle-boy Wonder. That’s what some of our younger classmates call you, Quinn. Who cares if they are stupid stereotypes that are not your real name and do not describe who you really are as a total person? As long as we all know who we are talking about…”

  “My name is Quinn Armitage Jacobson, and, yes, to me that counts for something,” Quinn interrupted in a quiet voice that did not mask his irritation. “No, I do not fit the mold of the typical student around here. So what? There is a lot more to me than the few superficial things people around me see and comment on. And, no, Mrs. Howell, I would not want to be addressed that way if that is how they think they know me. You made your point. Please accept my apologies.”

  He gave her a mock bow.

  Jennie laughed in response.

  “None needed, as long as you understand that I don’t refer to you by those nicknames. Besides, I would hate to find out what other students think of me.”

  “An Army wife valiantly standing behind her warrior husband, a mother with a little boy to raise and help support who has returned to school to better herself—I think overall we are rather favorably impressed.”

  Jennie smiled, and hoped her face did not reveal the sadness inside. She wished her warrior husband was favorably impressed by her.

  Then Jennie snapped her focus back to Quinn. She realized that he had shared something with her that was not common knowledge.