The World of Grandpa Don  

A couple weeks ago we discovered that our special email address for the webministry at St Julie was not working. It turned out that the server was changed and in the process, our email address was lost, probably due to the fact that all other addresses were for parish staff members. It took a few days but the email address was re-established but on the old server it had been set up for all mail to that address be redirected to me and Bob Lewis. With the new server, that had not been done so we had to go on line to check our webministry mail. A bit more tweaking was required and on Monday Phil made the additional changes making life easier for us. Have you noticed ... it is not a perfect world. Sometimes improvements for the majority result in an inconvenience for the few. 

Monday was unusual for me. Running short of milk and OJ, I made the trip to the local Jewel. It was trying to rain but couldn't quite make a job of it. The greatest problem with going on Monday is that they are stocking shelves after the weekend but the advantage is that the checkers are waiting for customers. I came home, fed Mikey and called the veterinarian's office. They had a 4:30 opening so I took it and then followed my little friend out to the back for a fresh sample to bring in for his annual heart worm test. Mikey weighs in at 19.5lbs, just about right for his breed. He got his rabies shot without a flinch and I left with an antibiotic for his skin infection. She also suggested that I put him on a regimen of Benadryl to alleviate itching.  We agreed that he could do without all the other shots they push since he got them last year before the seizures started. He was getting seizures every 6 weeks but has not had one since March.  Mikey, like his care taker, is in pretty good shape for the shape he is in.

Tuesday after Barbara departed, leaving our domicile spick and span, I took a drive to the village hall, proof of rabies shot in hand, and plunked down a Dollar for Mikey's dog licence. That is the "fixed", senior rate. The animal must be "fixed". not the senior.

Wednesday morning an email came from Jean Dean. I guess I should refer to her as "Cousin" Jean ... Yes, another one! I mentioned previously that she is researching the genealogy of her Packard ancestors. Last weekend she made a trip to AuGres, MI to visit the Arenac County Historical Society museum. Jean hit "pay dirt"! Along with her email describing some of her finds were family photos dating from the mid 1800's, copies of burial records and copies of genealogy notes. Her email gushes with the excitement of her discoveries. I know that all of you are not interested but for those of you who are see Jean's email. She seems to have documented, or at least established, the trail of her Packard ancestors from prior to their arrival in America in 1630 right down to herself.

I am (reasonably) sure that our ( brother, Jim Cecora, & I ) Packard line stems from this same family but still have not found the connection from our 2nd great-grandfather Shepard Packard (b 1818) to the rest of the Packard line. Jean's research may yield some clues and will require further study. I am particularly intrigued by a couple pages of family records which start in the early 1700's. The problem is that it is not complete. There are some male children listed but there is no further information as to their subsequent marriages and children. Jean reports that some of the information at the museum came from a source in Bay City Michigan which she plans, as time permits, to track down.

Subsequent emails from Jean and Peggy bring up other problems in the list of ancestors such as improbable birth dates and the possibility that there may be a generation which is not accounted for, or simply missed in the listings. So many names are repeated from generation to generation and amongst cousins. In fact, there is one instance of a child dying at the age of 5 and the family giving his name to another son born a year later. We also have the son of Sarah Ames marrying a Sarah Ames, his mother's second cousin. It is all very confusing.

There has been a flurry of emails between Jean, Peggy and myself. It has been gratifying that Jean & Peggy have found each other through this web site. They are avid genealogy buffs and they are establishing a strong rapport with Packard ancestry at the core. I am going to have to update my Packard pages with their new finds but that will come later.