An eighth cousin refuses to accept my kind, thoughtful, considerate, pleasantly-worded email messages pointing out that there is an error on her “tree.” She maintains her information is correct. I do not understand (“Je ne comprends pas”). A total of five emails… but no more!! Hey, she has her grandmother listed as her mother so worth consideration (imho). I’m the expert on the Frantz family (with more than 22,000 Frantz and collateral lines); she has five people on her tree (possibly for DNA connections). This “cousin” must be as hard-headed as my landlady/neighbor (who refuses to allow her tenant to purchase a new hot water heater for “our” laundry room).

My brain is so-o-o-o-o busy!! I’m overwhelmed with information for my family tree. Not everyone will agree with my next statement but I believe it to be 200% true. I believe my Heavenly Father prepared me for the task of documenting my Old German Baptist Brethren (OGBB) ancestry and collateral lines. I had the same belief in the early 1990s as I computerized data provided by kind, thoughtful, considerate cousins. I published Frantz Families–Kith & Kin in 1996. During my years of research, I visited many OGBB communities. In 2004, I moved to Ohio’s “Miami Valley” where thousands of “cousins” reside/resided. I’m not an expert but I’m familiar with the names of towns and counties in Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia (as well as my home state of California). I’ve “worked” with the surnames for so many years I know them by heart. I’m “qualified” (by my Heavenly Father) to accurately document these precious people who are Christ-centered and Bible-believing. This is a task I take seriously. Now, this will sound like I’m digressing: I was a “proofreader” for many years. My brain was so well-trained mistakes jump off the page. My brain catches things before my eye does. Combine proofreading with a perfectionist and you find an old lady hopelessly addicted to “climbing the family tree.”

Gospel truth: While I was typing this blog message, I was notified I’d received a new email message (a little window popped up in the lower right corner of my screen). When I checked… a cousin sent another obituary. I quickly advised him (lol) that I hadn’t finished documenting the individuals–and collateral lines–of folks in the last obituary he sent.