My, my - such a fine list of guests - each a character in his or her own right - I only hope they get along! (Must confess I did not invite my great-grandfather Joseph Guertin because he had a legendary temper and was described as contentious to the point of being downright litigious - not so much fun at a party!) It has been grand to see how these names have taken on life through our describing them when "considering" them as dinner guests - a pleasant exercise, I thought (inspired by a couple of other lists), and I heartily thank all who took part. Such questions we would have to ask these our ancestors - and they would want to ask each other, since the generations were mixed. Glad to see all the ALLAINs and also the Little Canada contingent - we owe them the choice of St. Anne's locatiom, I think. Then the HEBERT group - and then Ardis's Danish family - and her husband's German relatives - the GAUL, NADEAU, PARADIS, d'ORLEANS families - of course the BEAUPREs, the ARSENEAUs, the JOUBERTs - Here come the BARCELOUs, the St. JOHNs - two CHINIQUYs and a lone SCHULTE, as I recall. More, more - sorry if I'm missing anyone (doing this from memory), and sorry too about the spelling - we all know how THAT went, what with names being mispelled by all and sundry. And the mysteries - so interesting to get glimpses of twists and turns in our ancestors' lives. It may be that someday an exercise like this one will turn up answers to someone's puzzle. We can hope so. This is the joy of genealogy to me - to envision those names and dates as REAL PEOPLE, even at our imaginary party and even though Thanksgiving was not a customary French or Canadian holiday. Good food and good company - what's not to like! THANKS, EVERYONE. Had a grand time! Bye for now. . . Ginny

Wow! I'd be hard pressed to invite only a few. If it were possible, I'd like to invite ALL the ancestors I have knowledge of so I could get even more information from each of them. I'd end up having the biggest genealogical database I could ever imagine. I'd also have personal histories about everyone of them. I'd have to give them all a form to complete on their knowledge of the family genealogy -- so, of course, that would mean they would all need to be able to read and write --- skills which many did not have. Wouldn't it be fun to transpose them into today's culture and hear what they thought about how much the world has changed since they lived? I've always thought that would make a fantastic science-fiction story/movie. I'd love to hear about not only genetics, but lifestyles as well. Don't know that the French, English, Germain, Jewish, Polish (sons), Welsh, Scottish, American Indian (Sioux, Apache, Blackfoot - 1st cousins), Chinese, (grand kids) Vietnamese (grand kids), would all get along -- might end up with another world war! LOL ! But, wouldn't it be fantastic if we actually could do this? Boy, we could instantly break down all our brick walls! I wouldn't be concerned with fame or notoriety - just would want to be able to have a chance to talk with all of them - don't think I'd be satisfied with a day, either -- I'd be greedy and want more time. FUN and FANTASTIC thought! Madeleine Sacramento, California