At first glance, maybe we think we ourselves don't have much of a story but if you add all of the experiences we have along with the family lore, there's more to one soul than meets the eye. Each part of a story has add ons. My Grandparents roomed at a boarding house in St Thomas owned by two Danish sisters. One was Daddy's Godmother. She never married. Her fiance was lost at sea years before. Daddy was born May 11, 1918 so her gift to him that I now have holds a special place in my heart. He made her a Sailors Valentine. All of the shells are intact. None have fallen out of their setting. I also have many postcards from the time they were there of the harbor that was the scene from their window. Granddaddy was a Chief Pharmacist Mate,and retired a Lt.jg. They called him back during WWII and he was stationed at the old hospital here at NAS. One day someone told him there was a patient with his name on the ortho ward. That was a sort of shocker cause there's not that many Horatio's with the same middle and last name as his. He went to see the man. He was a black sailor with a broken leg. They got to talking and come to find out, the mans Grandparents had been slaves who belonged to Grandaddys Grandparents in Elbert County Georgia. They had been freed before the war the man said but they wanted to stay where they were. They took my family's name and they started a whole new round of Horatio's, Benjamin's and Matthew's in each generation. That has led a few family tree diggers down a strange road. I'm glad I knew that before I started my digging. It's quite confusing at best. I wonder what every man in Bennings Brigade's family story is. You can bet they aren't boring.

Pam