On The Home Front

More Than Just Keystrokes on the Computer Screen

Awhile back I was asked when I started writing and why. At the time, I thought one of these days I will set down and try to explain the motivations that drive me to share my thoughts on paper. I put it in my "Ideal Bin" and basically forgot all about it.

That day has finally come and if you will indulge me, I will explain why at the end of this column.

Nine years ago I was a host on AOL in the Genealogy chat rooms. A new host trying to help people learn how to trace their family roots without becoming staid and boring. A trait that I had noticed most of the "Established" experts in Genealogy shared. The chat rooms I hosted were always filled with lots of good genealogy laced with jokes and general comedic mayhem. After attending a Genealogy conference in Dallas, I wrote a "Revue" of it and sent it to a couple of other hosts and a ouple of friends from the Genealogy chats. Several of the folks I sent it to wrote me back that it was "Cute" but not to give up my day job. However, four of the people I sent the original article too wrote me back and said I should try to
publish it in the Genealogy Newsletter. Since one of those folks was the editor of the Golden Gates Genealogy Newsletter the article was accepted for publication before I even realized that it had been submitted. That one "Joke" genealogy column grew into a weekly genealogy column that was published in three newspapers and two books before I decided to retire from the Genealogy Business in 2003.

The column that you now read started as a direct result of the horrific attacks on 9/11 and my intense need to share my pain and anger. Among the few things that both columns have in common is a core of people that have encouraged me to share my thoughts.

The "odd" thing about the group that has been supporting me over the last eight years, is that, aside from my immediate family, every single one of them lives utside of Texas. I met all of them on the internet, they were just chatroom bud's. People who are not addicted to the internet and chat rooms will never understand how mere "keystrokes on the computer screen" can develop into deep friendships. Personally, I still don't understand exactly how it works but there is not a doubt
in my mind that this small cadre of friends mean as much to me as any group of people that I have had the honor of knowing in person.

The reason I am telling you this story is that one of these very special people in my life passed away on Saturday September 23rd 2006. Her Name was Diane Abrahamson, I knew her as DianeAbra (that was her screen name). I usually called her an "Axe Wielding Yankee" as a result of a column I wrote several years ago when we met Face to Face in the Dallas/Ft Worth Airport. She encouraged me from day one to try to put my humor and my pain into my writing. She told me that it would make it more honest. DianeAbra was a very special lady and brought a smile to the face of everyone that knew her. She will be missed by her family and the hundreds of friends that she made on the internet. I would like to dedicate this column to her memory.



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