I got a treasure from my grandmother yesterday. After all the 'hell' I have been through he last two weeks, over my computer virus; this could not have come at a better time! My mother was sorting through some of her file cabinets. She had a section of family things in one that she had not looked through for several years. Of course she knew how much I have been involved in genealogy for the past 25 years, and especially over the last year and a half. I already had my grandmother's birthday book, and the ones she had given each of her sisters and her mother-in-law. It does not compare with what mother found yesterday. A small spiral bound notebook, in Grandmother Johnston's own handwriting, of family history work she put together 60 years ago. It has middle names and complete dates of birth of my the siblings of my dad's four grandparents. A lot of it is information long forgotten, and that no one had remembered. It is a precious gift she had worked on in her own meticulous handwriting, then typed up formally on pages she was putting together in the back. She had continued to add updates in it, up until the early 1960s, when my grandfather died. When he did, she did also, spiritually. Although she lived another 15 years, the only remaining interests she had were my brother and I, plus our parents. It is so special to have this and be able to see how she shared the same fascination and pride over her family. I am holding it now, and I know that only those of you on these lists can understand the connection I have with this tiny woman, full of love and grace. She made this for my dad, to have and pass on. Now he and I can look through it and continue it, adding our own pages at the back, for others to share too. Edith Mae Ferguson Johnston would be 96 years old this June 18th. It is eerie to know that my mother pulled this long forgotten treasure, out of the back of a drawer of special, archived keepsakes, on the day that Edith's husband would have been 95. Kinda' makes ya' ponder! Don't it! Jerry Johnston Gerald Hankins "Jerry" Johnston Scottsdale, Arizona Researching many families; including: Johnston, Hankins, Reece, Ferguson, Stephens, Frazier, Hutson, Adkins, Bills, Austin, Mustain, Higginbotham, and many other related families.