[Informational] Dave's Quest for History
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
Howls of supportive laughter.
Most people stop once they hit the Mayflower, @Dave isn't happy until he gets to the Toba catastrophe.He found mitochondrial Eve.
--Patrick
Studies have shown that the longer you live, the faster time moves. To us this might have been the culmination of a lot of work, but to Dave this wasn't more than a second.
Dave
Staff member
(Cut & pasted from my Facebook post because I'm not typing this all out again.)
Okay, all. *whew* What a day.
We got to Sioux City about 12:30 (left Omaha at 10:30) and went to sister Diane's place of business - a neutral location just in case I turned out to be a creepy ax murderer or something. (I'm joking by the way - meeting at a neutral location was very smart on their part.)
So immediately I got to meet Diane Geary and her husband Ken. Ken reminded us of Sammi's fiance, Nick. Very tall, skinny, & reserved. Diane, though...how to explain Diane. Let's just say her family nickname - Motormouth - is WELL deserved! That woman can talk like a fish can breath water. She's a natural.
Soon after that the doors opened and in walked my mother Julie, her husband Donald, and my brother Jeff Eichmann. It was pretty noticeable right away that a DNA test to confirm is not necessary. Plus, she remembers my biological father and they were married for a short time, so no guessing.
We all sat down and started talking, and by that I mean Diane talked and we interjected now and again. Jeff was very stand-offish at first, which you can understand considering he just learned I existed a few months ago. By the end, though, he'd warmed up and we were all involved in the conversation. We even Skyped with sister, Elaine Whiteford, against my wishes. Not because I didn't want to talk to her, but because she lives in Australia and it was 4:30 in the morning for her - after her and I had chatted until about 1 am her time. So she hadn't had much sleep and I felt bad they called her. She was okay once she'd fixed her hair, though.
After talking a while, we decided to go to lunch and went to the Garden Cafe. Not that chain restaurant, a neighborhood joint that had the same name. Food was amazing, though. I showed Julie and Don my baby pictures and stuff while Diane cornered a very overwhelmed Kerri. Once Ken showed up (he was closing the store for the day) we ate and then drove out to Jeff's house to have chocolate malts (low carb diet? WHAT low carb diet?!?) and play with the 30+ kittens (no, this is not an exaggeration) on their acreage. Then once we were all tired we split up and we came home. I have pictures but won't post them until I get permission from those involved.
So how did it go? It went perfectly wonderful. I think they are great people who have had some interesting early years. I, of course, won't get into any of it publicly. I think Jeff and I will get along completely. I think Diane is great and fun...and even though I've given her a lot of crap about her talking, I think she's the bee's knees. I like Elaine and she's fun to talk to, although I haven't really met her yet. And Julie...I'm very glad I found her. She was pretty quiet, but the things she said and how she said them spoke volumes. She wanted nothing more for me than for me to have had a wonderful childhood, which I did. I have a loving family and great parents, and stability that I never appreciated fully until my search began.
This family has gone through so much in the last few years, with deaths in the family and interpersonal conflicts that shall go unmentioned here except for this passing remarks. I'm glad that even after all of that, they were able to open their hearts and accept a new and weird fella that just came out of nowhere to stir up their lives. I hope that this positive outcome continues and that we can get to know and appreciate each other more as the years pass.
This chapter of Dave's Quest for History is over, but the book is still being written. I think I'll call it, When Family Trees Turn Into Forests.
Okay, all. *whew* What a day.
We got to Sioux City about 12:30 (left Omaha at 10:30) and went to sister Diane's place of business - a neutral location just in case I turned out to be a creepy ax murderer or something. (I'm joking by the way - meeting at a neutral location was very smart on their part.)
So immediately I got to meet Diane Geary and her husband Ken. Ken reminded us of Sammi's fiance, Nick. Very tall, skinny, & reserved. Diane, though...how to explain Diane. Let's just say her family nickname - Motormouth - is WELL deserved! That woman can talk like a fish can breath water. She's a natural.
Soon after that the doors opened and in walked my mother Julie, her husband Donald, and my brother Jeff Eichmann. It was pretty noticeable right away that a DNA test to confirm is not necessary. Plus, she remembers my biological father and they were married for a short time, so no guessing.
We all sat down and started talking, and by that I mean Diane talked and we interjected now and again. Jeff was very stand-offish at first, which you can understand considering he just learned I existed a few months ago. By the end, though, he'd warmed up and we were all involved in the conversation. We even Skyped with sister, Elaine Whiteford, against my wishes. Not because I didn't want to talk to her, but because she lives in Australia and it was 4:30 in the morning for her - after her and I had chatted until about 1 am her time. So she hadn't had much sleep and I felt bad they called her. She was okay once she'd fixed her hair, though.
After talking a while, we decided to go to lunch and went to the Garden Cafe. Not that chain restaurant, a neighborhood joint that had the same name. Food was amazing, though. I showed Julie and Don my baby pictures and stuff while Diane cornered a very overwhelmed Kerri. Once Ken showed up (he was closing the store for the day) we ate and then drove out to Jeff's house to have chocolate malts (low carb diet? WHAT low carb diet?!?) and play with the 30+ kittens (no, this is not an exaggeration) on their acreage. Then once we were all tired we split up and we came home. I have pictures but won't post them until I get permission from those involved.
So how did it go? It went perfectly wonderful. I think they are great people who have had some interesting early years. I, of course, won't get into any of it publicly. I think Jeff and I will get along completely. I think Diane is great and fun...and even though I've given her a lot of crap about her talking, I think she's the bee's knees. I like Elaine and she's fun to talk to, although I haven't really met her yet. And Julie...I'm very glad I found her. She was pretty quiet, but the things she said and how she said them spoke volumes. She wanted nothing more for me than for me to have had a wonderful childhood, which I did. I have a loving family and great parents, and stability that I never appreciated fully until my search began.
This family has gone through so much in the last few years, with deaths in the family and interpersonal conflicts that shall go unmentioned here except for this passing remarks. I'm glad that even after all of that, they were able to open their hearts and accept a new and weird fella that just came out of nowhere to stir up their lives. I hope that this positive outcome continues and that we can get to know and appreciate each other more as the years pass.
This chapter of Dave's Quest for History is over, but the book is still being written. I think I'll call it, When Family Trees Turn Into Forests.
First off, MASSIVE congratulations on your huge success!
Your saga has come at a most opportune time, as my wife has decided, for similar reasons as you, to try and track down her father. Knowing what steps you've taken, as well as the advice that you've been posting in here, has helped me to give her a vector to follow, and knowing stuff to watch out for. And your success has provided that glimmer of hope.
Great job, Old Man!
Your saga has come at a most opportune time, as my wife has decided, for similar reasons as you, to try and track down her father. Knowing what steps you've taken, as well as the advice that you've been posting in here, has helped me to give her a vector to follow, and knowing stuff to watch out for. And your success has provided that glimmer of hope.
Great job, Old Man!
I'm so happy for you! It sounds like your trip to meet them went really well. That's amazing!
And you got to play with 30 kittens at the same time!?!?
And you got to play with 30 kittens at the same time!?!?
Hey! I congratulated him for finding his mother first!
Dave
Staff member
The jokes were made.[DOUBLEPOST=1498565188,1498565155][/DOUBLEPOST]
The ones you could catch. They ran when you got close. You had to be sneaky.
Well, the
emoji is starting to feel a bit too real.
Dave
Staff member
So I promised pictures, then forgot to post them. So...pictures.
Biological father, Richard, and his wife, Lois.
Left to right: Diane (sister), Jeff (brother), Me (me), Julie (mom)
I made everyone laugh. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DO!!
Just Julie and I.
She has no idea who she's dealing with. THE MADMAN!
Biological father, Richard, and his wife, Lois. Left to right: Diane (sister), Jeff (brother), Me (me), Julie (mom) I made everyone laugh. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DO!! Just Julie and I. She has no idea who she's dealing with. THE MADMAN!
Dave
Staff member
Not shown: The other 4.
