Thursday, October 6, 2011

Suegra de Payaso, P.I.

My mother called this morning and told me that a childhood friend (TK) of my late father's had died in August.  She (and now I) would like to send condolences to his brother (BK), with whom he lived for 91 (yes, that's right!) years.  However, the brother's phone has been disconnected and no one answer's TK's phone although it does ring.

Mom doesn't see well, nor does she hear well.  Thus, I offered to start searching for BK.

Quick to the Internet, Batman!  I tried a couple Google searches and even Ancestry.com, but I didn't really learn anything.  Obituary and mortuary searches yielded no clues.  So, I waited for the museum where TK volunteered to open at 1 p.m.  The museum staff wanted to help, but no one knew anything other than BK had moved to an assisted care facility, name not known.

Since I have become remarkably more assertive in the past few years, I looked up care facilities in TK and BK's hometown on the Internet and started telephoning.  After I finished calling unsuccessfully all of those that I could find (and speaking with some very pleasant and helpful people), I telephoned the alumni office at the college TK, BK, and their two sister's had attended.  Once again, even though the person who was unlucky enough to answer my call was extraordinarily willing, no new information was forthcoming.

Stymied, but only temporarily.  I am stubborn.  I returned to Ancestry.com and searched for BK's sisters under their married names.  The result is that I now have emailed one of their most probably great-nieces.  If she can help, then I will have succeeded in helping Mom.

If I had Jim Rockford's contacts, I might have made a good private investigator.  But, how scary is this that I have proceeded so far without leaving my desk chair? This is definitely a warning to be careful about what you post on the Internet.

1 comment:

  1. I just got off the telephone with a man from the museum who called me back. He knew about BK, and I have relayed the information to my mother. She was actually quite pleased.

    My mom thought I found the information quickly, but I thought it took longer than it often takes for me to find someone. Apparently your impression of speed is relative to your generation.

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