Tuesday, February 4, 2014

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

This is more of a public service post.  It is not about genealogy per se, but it is about friends and family.

I was 2 years ahead of Phil in high school, and although I did not know him personally, several of my close friends acted with him in school plays, and I distinctly remember his performances in The Crucible, M*A*S*H, and Death of a Salesman.

I was angry when I first heard the news, and then very sad and nostalgic as I heard old classmates and friends express sympathy and shock. We all need to learn 3 things which will make Phil's death less of a waste: 1) There should be no stigma to seeking treatment for addiction, addiction can happen even if you use just once- the chemistry of these drugs will cause you to need more each time to get the same high. 2) Treatment has to be available to anyone who needs it, without financial or legal barriers. 3) Talk with your children, friends, etc about addiction. Even if they would not even think about using or even experimenting, they will run into someone who does.  Look at us this week.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

My handwriting is bad, but...

While in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago, I did some research into my husband's family.  I was able to solve a couple mysteries.  His cousin had put together a wonderful family tree, and I found the answers to two remaining questions.  But, of course, came home with another mystery!  I believe this excerpt holds the key, but we cannot decipher it.

This is from a parish register in Loikum, Germany in the 1850's.  Normally the godparents names are in this slot.  Because of other information, I believe the mother and possibly the baby died at birth.



The third and fourth lines are "kind ist bald darauf ganz" which means "child is soon quite". 

If anyone has ideas, please let me know!