Your posting was one of the saddest I've ever read, and how close to ending in tragedy! Thank heavens for people like you who understand the value of the heritage she and her husband left behind and made the choice to intervene. Someday someone in her family will truly yearn for knowledge of this wonderful couple who gave their family roots and traditions, even if it's not one of the sons. This person will shudder at how close they came to losing all of those treasures, saved only by the kindness and wisdom of a neighbor. I read somewhere the comparison of a situation like this as being a branch severed from a tree trunk and roots, not being able to survive without that which gave it life. Maybe you have given a second chance to this family that will be recognized as a blessing by the other members someday. And what a blessing you already are to Ms. Gilley by seeing her wondrous garden, etc. as magical, and her life as something to be treasured. Thank you for all of us who weep at what has been discarded before. My own situation concerns a recently found cousin, who's grandaunt died about ten years ago. This person was the keeper of the records of my father's line. The aunt's husband had died and the adopted son was unaware and unappreciative of the importance of a wealth of photographs and memorabilia. At the funeral, he brought a large cardboard box full of the family photos and records and offered them to the cousin. He didn't recognize the importance, and being in the middle of family grief, told him that he'd get them another time. That was about a decade ago. When I found this out, I begged him to try to find the son, and see if this box of treasure has survived. He can not find the son. Hardly a week goes by that I don't grieve for the loss. Your actions may spare someone else. Lynne ----- Original Message ----- From: <JRice79761@aol.com> To: <MSJEFFER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 11:29 PM Subject: [MSJEFFER-L] What is a Family? > As a family researcher I long for every bit of knowledge that I can scrape > together. The gift, as I call it is a rare photo of an ancestor, a bible > record, and best yet a diary. > Recently in my home town of Fort Stockton, an elderly woman, my neighbor was > put in a nursing home by her two sons. I really did not know this woman at > all. But, the people of this Town sure did. Her family was one of the early > pioneers of this town. She was a delight to a lot of people in her heyday. She > had a backyard that I can see from my kitchen window that once held none other > than a "Secret Garden," and an Alice in Wonderland feeling. The people here > have told me she thought everyday should be Christmas. Since I have lived here > she did indeed turn on her Christmas lights every night. Today the lights no > longer come on at dark. The fantasy land of her backyard that was once her > boys, and her grandchildren's playground has been slowly picked apart. Her > memories of days gone past have all disappeared except in her mind for her. Every > little trinket, every little light, has now all been extinguished. To Ms. > Gilley, her life is done according to her children. Her wonderful painted house, > the flowers that just dance off of it at you as you pass it by, will probably > soon be painted over. Her giant picture window with all her trinkets displayed > will never be lit up again, the Santa's the Witches and what not are all gone. > Gone where? The dumpsters in my alley hold the life of Ms. Gilley. Her Photo > Albums, pictures of her children, and her grandchildren have all disappeared. > The navy blanket her husband brought back from World War II, in the dumpster, > as well along with his years of history as a teacher throughout the state of > Texas, and Alas they did not forget to toss the bible records of both families, > yes in the dumpsters. Mr. Gilley passed away in 1998, his family was from > Hollandale, Mississippi. Ms. Gilley was born here in Texas. The life of Ms. > Gilley is another story to be told, and I after rescuing all of her important > memories from the dumpsters know it was a wonderful, glorious life and her family > history will live on. To her sons I say shame on you for they gave you life, > and you decided not to treasure that but, instead focused only on yourselves. > You can throw away her clothes and dishes and the baby photos but she will > always be your mother. I also know that neither of you will ever be like your > father. He let her be who she was and loved her for it. Sons, you threw away the > love letters your father wrote to your mother in the 1920s. Didn't you even > care? I did. > Janice > > This story is sad but true, If there is any one in Mississippi related to > this Gilley family please contact me. I would love to send to relatives that > care, the photos and memorabilia of this family. > > > > > > Henry Gilley > > > > FORT STOCKTON - Henry Floyd ``H.F.'' Gilley, 85, died Sunday, Nov. 22, 1998, > > in Fort Stockton. Service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church > > with burial in East Hill Cemetery. Arrangements are by Fort Stockton Funeral > > Home. He was born Aug. 27, 1913, in Hollandale, Miss., and had been a > > resident of Fort Stockton since 1946. A Navy veteran of World War II, he owned and > > operated the Lem Smith Machinery Co. and was a member of the First Baptist > > Church and Fort Stockton Masonic Lodge 1023. Survivors include his wife, Evelyn > > Gilley of Fort Stockton; two sons, Brian Gilley of Midland and Terry Gilley > > of Hereford; two sisters, Marietta Caruthers of San Francisco, Calif. and > > Vivian Nicholson of Bakersfield, Calif.; and three grandchildren. > > > > ==== MSJEFFER Mailing List ==== > "Isn't genealogy fun? The answer to one problem, leads to two more." >