A love that lasted

Chuck was going off to fight in the China Burma theater in the war. Betty was his sweetheart who was staying at home.  He was 25.  She was 21.

The year was 1943.  The date was the 27th of November.  The place was a small Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh.

Over 68 years have passed since that day, the event that created a family, that brought together a couple to whom my father would be born twelve years later.  Theirs was a sweet love that would stand the test of time.

It was a short and sweet ceremony, and they had a small reception, but their love was big and it kept them together through their time of separation.  

They would have four children, though one would quietly pass away before she was 21 years of age.  The other three would go on to marry and have children of their own.

 They would retire and move from Pittsburgh to the warmer climates of Florida.  From here they would travel around the United Sates, visiting their children.  Their youngest son was in the Marine Corps, and they loved to visit him wherever he was stationed when they could.

They would honor the wedding vows they made that day.  They would remain together until Chuck's death in 1989. They were married for forty-six years.

RAOGK - good for the mind, body and soul

I recently walked the small city cemetery here in the town I live in, looking for some graves to take pictures of for Findagrave.com.  You see, some people who can't make it to the cemetery, whether it be because of disability or distance or whatever that keeps them away, request photographs of certain grave markers.  Whenever I can get to one of the cemeteries listed to fulfill their requests, I do. 

One weekend, I logged over 6 miles of walking in two days looking for markers and broke into a sweat both days as I walked back and forth amongst the rows of the cemetery.   I got a good workout as I searched for graves of people I don't even know so that a person too far away to search himself or herself could have a photo of the grave.

It was a random act of genealogical kindness, or in my world, a RAOGK

The world is full of people willing to do random acts of kindness for strangers.  In the genealogical circles, there are people willing to do look-ups of all sorts for others.  Some of these people work anonymously, whereas others seek recognition.  I myself enjoy what I do, and I don't seek accolades for doing it, though I do enjoy a very nice thank you.  I look at doing these acts as a way to  pay forward the help I received.

So I encourage any reader of my blog for whom genealogy is a hobby to find someway to help out, whether it be walking through graveyards snapping pictures, or offering on a forum to find someone's tax or marriage records at the local courthouse, to offering up info from your own family tree to someone who might want it without expecting any re-compensation.  It'll do your mind, body and soul a world of good!

Some links that can help you find a way to help:
Find A Grave
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Wiki
US GenWeb Project
FamilySearch Facebook Research Communities