| Through Elsie I learned more about my ancestors than I could have ever hoped to learn from old records, photographs or news-clippings.
I now know more about them as real human beings rather than names on a faded document. Elsie showed me the first photograph I or anyone else in my family had ever seen of my granddad as a young man, as well as photographs of my great-grandparents and their other children, George Leo, Alice and Maude, and I have included many of Elsie's photos on this website. |
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| After travelling The Road to Nowhere, I couldn't help but have some doubts as to whether I had the right family this time,
but all doubts were removed when Elsie showed me a photograph of her Uncle Dick in his roller skates. I have a very similar photo that was given to me by my Aunt
Kay back in Toronto. Taken at different times in different places, the similarity between the two photographs is amazing. If Elsie had any doubts, and I'm sure she must have done, I think they were removed when she saw another photo from Aunt Kay's collection. I showed Elsie a photograph of a woman and asked if she knew who it was. She looked at the photograph and, her eyes filling up with tears, said, "That was my grandmother". |
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| COMPARISON PHOTO | |
| As far as my family history research is concerned, Elsie was invaluable and, although there are still many unanswered questions, I am now
closer to knowing the truth about my granddad than would have been possible without Elsie's help. But more importantly, Elsie was a dear friend. During the ten years or so that we were friends and neighbours we became quite close. As one might expect, Elsie suffered some health problems in her last few years - but her mind was sharp, she had a clever sense of humour, and was an absolute joy to know. Elsie passed away on New Years Day 2004 in her 93rd year. |
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