RAK: Mission Accomplished!

Today, I met with Doroethy, Hattie's granddaughter. She was pleased to get her grandmother's baby picture back, but was still at a loss as to how it left the family in the first place. She showed me a picture of Hattie as an elderly woman, as well as pictures of Hattie's husband, Doroethy's mother (Hattie's daughter), and her paternal grandparents. She said that, on her father's side, she has genealogy back hundreds of years.





Doroethy said that she would be putting a story in her family newsletter, which she publishes 3 times a year. I told her that my mother would be putting a little story in her company's newsletter. She was very grateful to have the picture back, and I feel wonderful for having reunited the photograph with it's family!





Here is Doroethy with Hattie's baby picture:






Random Act of Kindness #1 for 2007: COMPLETE!

Hattie part 2

UPDATE!

I received a response from the person whose website I was referred to, who said he would pass on my email address to HATTIE'S GRANDDAUGHTER, Doroethy. I received this message from her today:

"Hi, My name is Doroethy, and Hattie was my mom's mom. She was an important part of my life, and I would love to have this picture. I am not sure how it got to [the antique shop]. I have grown children living there, but they wouldn't throw away the picture, or even have one. My mom and Hattie lived on the east side of [town].... I think this is amazing. I am grateful to you for following through on this! Please let me know the best way to retrieve the picture. I am happy to come by.

Sincerely,Doroethy"

I have offered to return the picture to her on Sunday, bringing my mom along too. I'll let you know what happens next.

Isn't this cool? And it took less than a week to find Hattie's closest living relative!!

Delphia

RAK: Baby Harned

I have long been an admirer of those who do nice things for other people without expecting anything in return. For me, Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) are rewarding by making me feel good about myself. I had a great one today!

This weekend, while Mom and I were browsing through an antique shop in Old Town Glendale (AZ), I happened across a booth with shoeboxes full of old postcards. Tucked into the very back were four old photographs. Two were of First Communion for different girls, another was a little boy, and the fourth was of an infant sitting in a chair (above). This one caught my eye because on the back was written:

"Hattie M. Harned, Born June 26 - 1888"

I couldn't believe it! It's quite uncommon to find such detailed information on old photos, especially if they're in some "junk" shop collecting dust because the family who had it didn't want it for some reason.

So, I paid $4 for the little picture (yes, I wondered why that much, too), and yesterday posted a message on Ancestry.com's boards for the surname Harned. I got a reply THE SAME DAY!!! Someone had taken it upon themselves to search the genealogy sites (subscription, which I can't afford) and matched the infant to a website setup by her descendants! I sent an email to the person who put up the website, and hope to hear from him soon as to whom I should send the photograph.

The picture WANTED to be found, I'm sure of that. I had put the picture back in the shoebox while Mom and I continued wandering, but kept thinking, "Someone out there may be looking for this." I went back to the box and said to myself, "I hope I find your family, Hattie."

If the person tells me that no one wants the photograph, then I will send it to the LDS genealogy records center in Utah, and maybe copies to the historical society in the state she was from. Either way, Hattie's baby picture -- which could easily be the only one ever taken -- will be preserved for the future!

Practice Random Acts of Kindness! It will make you a better person!

Delphia

p.s. Can you believe this was also for sale at the same shop:

That's my mom imitating the polar bear. The plaque on the display case says that the bear weighed 1600 pounds and, at the time (1965) was the 2nd largest polar bear. Leave it to stupid humans to take the prime specimens, completely against Natural Selection!! -- DJ