Carol learned the value of taking care of and being part of a large family from her parents. Now, she’s a grandmother and does everything she can to keep her family close and spending time with one another. Carol is the keeper of the original documents, belongings and pictures of family members who have passed on and enjoys sharing these with her family, as well as having them join her in researching.
In early summer of 2020, while the pandemic was raging, Carol’s granddaughter joined her for the day and they took to researching family online. Carol has always been interested in finding out the roots of her ancestry. Part of this stemmed from the last name “Shakespeare” that appears in her mother’s side of the family tree.Her granddaughter, who is a member of Find a Grave, suggested that they search for their family members’ memorials. They found memorials for Carol’s parents and many other family members.
Then Carol asked if they could look for her uncle, John Shakespeare. She had lost contact with her uncle when he moved to California many years before. Carol’s granddaughter explains, “I made the search, hoping in my heart that he would appear, but not knowing if this was just one search that would not return what we desired. The first result in the list was him. I turned to look at her, to glimpse her reaction, and she was shocked. After all the searching she had done, the hours of looking to find those who had become unconnected, we had found him.”
Carol was amazed and grateful for the sacrifice of time and effort that Find a Grave members have made over the years to help people like them who come to the site in hopes of finding their family. They offer their heartfelt thanks to everyone who has added pictures of their family’s graves and to “the people who searched all over and helped to provide some closure when there were more questions than answers.”
Their experiences on Find a Grave have encouraged them to contribute to the site so that others can experience the same feelings of joy they did when they saw the gravestones of their family members for the first time.