Daily Writing Challenge


(I am not doing so well with my "daily writing challenge:".  I promise I will try to do better.  My goal is to write approx. 250 words per day.)

Today I would like to tell you a little bit about one family story that "hooked" me and, I believe, really sparked my interest in family history.  My paternal grandfather, Browning Jonaitis, had a sister, Isabella, who passed away when she was 8 years old, from influenza.  When I was young and heard that story, I was intrigued.  I had never heard of anyone dying from influenza.  I couldn't imagine what it was like for my grandfather and his parents and other sister to loose her so young.  That story stuck with me.  Other than the basic facts of her age when she died and what caused her death, I really didn't have much other information. My grandfather didn't speak about it much, in fact he didn't talk about family history much period.  A few years ago I decided I was going to begin searching for Isabella.

I had previously checked the area around my grandfather's grave to see if Isabella was buried near him.  His parents were buried one row over, so I thought it might be a good place to start.  No luck.