There was a lady my paternal grandmother would occasionally mention as someone she knew when she was growing up. I had forgotten about this woman until I did some census work on this grandmother’s brother-in-law.
While looking into the siblings of my grandmother’s brother-in-law, I discovered he had a sister named Cozy. It’s not the most common first name in the world and I knew I had heard it somewhere before. In fact, I said her last name of “Witt” out loud as soon as “Cozy” flashed in front of my screen. I could even hear Grandma saying Cozy’s complete married name in my head.
I had not thought of the name since my Grandmother died in 1994 and I’m pretty certain I never ever said it. Grandma was the only person I heard say it.
And there the name was in my head.
Sometimes we just need to hear the name for a memory to click. Sometimes researching the extended family helps us to have more names to generate memories.
Whenever you locate a new name, get cozy again with relatives you’ve already interviewed. There may be more to remember.
One response
Just today, Hubby and I were talking about memories of our sons’ childhoods and family memories. I have terrible recall and he remembers much more than I do, which I was lamenting. He said that often just a single word comes to mind for him and triggers the entire memory. He is the lucky one. It is truly amazing what our mind is capable of recalling, given the right circumstance. I read your article to Hubby too as it had been much like our conversation of the day, it made us both smile! Cozy Witt was likely smiling down at you today.