FAMILY SEARCH

15 June 2006

Have you ever felt depressed? There is an air of anticipation but nothing is actually happening. I am excited and depressed at the same time. Confused? You will be! At least if you get in my position. So come on readers (all 140 odd of you) Help!

PUBLICITY

This is an important tool in finding your family. Why do some organisations (like The Daily Mail) spend a fortune doing makeovers and photoshoots and then not use the story? We hope this will not be the case with Woman magazine - but you never know.19:59:38 o'clock BST

JERSEY

If you are in Jersey, or anywhere else for that matter, and you know anything about John Clement Minto, who was there in 1959, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH. In recent years, he has disappeared from all records - BMD etc

MARY POPPINS

Mary Poppins said it all when she invented that unforgettable word, supercalifragilisticexpial- idocious.

However, AOL has added super duper as a prefix. They have asked us to make this the "Blog of the Week". Of course we have agreed because we need the publicity to find the remaining two brothers and a sister. Well, wouldn't you?
The story is fantastic and it would be a very cold and hard person who didn't shed a tear as they read through it. We have had 130 odd visits and only 1 comment, so get you're a**es in gear and say what you think. I promise not to delete your comments if they are not obnoxious.

DOREEN'S STORY

I have finally got Doreen's story in a condensed, but still lengthy, version - and here it is:
About four years ago, I was able to get my full birth certificate for the first time; I fully expected it to show father’s name unknown but my father’s name was there and he was married to my mother
I did some research and found that I was one of 7 children. I was stunned and started to look for my siblings and posted messages on the Internet. Nothing happened until November 2004 when I received an e-mail, from a lady in Surrey, asking me to phone her.
I did this and found she was my niece, she told me she had seen my message on Genes Reunited and she gave me the news that I was one of nine not seven. She said her mother, who lived in Australia, had been searching for her siblings on the Internet and had found one in Scotland. By a sheer fluke she had come over for a reunion and was in this country at that time. We were reunited by phone that night and in person a couple of days later.
We have all met many times since and I have even been out to Australia but nothing else happened until a few weeks ago when we found a sister who lived just four miles away from me. Three weeks after that we contacted another sister who lived about eight miles away in the opposite direction. We got loads of press coverage and were invited onto GMTV. After this interview, we were just going back into our hotel when I got a call on my mobile. It was in response to a letter that I had sent through an intermediary agency – and it was our brother!
I called GMTV and they said to stay in London and come back next day and they would arrange a satellite uplink to his home in Worcester. We got to the studio and started the interview and he walked in. It was incredibly emotional. He had just got back from America and had not seen the TV programme, it was just a fantastic co-incidence that he rang when he did because he rang on Wednesday and we were reunited on Thursday – next day was Good Friday and there was no GMTV. We would still have met but not in such a sensational manner. It may have been Good Friday but it was Fabulous Thursday!
There have been other incredible co-incidences. In the early days of our marriages, my brother and I lived in the same village – about 400 yards away – We would have used the same local shops and pubs but didn’t knowingly meet. One of my sisters was close friends with a couple, the husband of whom was my adoptive cousin; we probably attended the same parties and didn’t know each other.
Now we’re in hot pursuit of the other three! I think my story must give heart to all family seekers and shows that miracles and fairy tales do happen - even in the 21st Century.
Well, that's Doreen's story and it, particularly the GMTV reunion, brought a tear or two even to my eyes. So, if anyone reading this has any connection to, or any information on, the Minto family from Birtley, County Durham, please add your comments.