So many questions, no answers
What happened?29 total reviews
Comment from Rachelle Allen
Wowie Zowie, Wendy! What a STORY!! This was absolutely fascinating. You did a tremendous job laying the framework by sharing that your father's parents were rather a mystery to you, and that your daughter was beginning to do research of your family's roots. At that point, I was all in! And you did NOT disappoint! You granted me this FASCINATING look at your great-grandmother's life, replete with her totally mysterious demise.
I liked all the conjecture that followed - that was exactly all the places my own mind was going, too. But then, you just kind of left me out there, stranded in dark on a precipice, to fend for myself , after you'd been so meticulous and generous with the way you guided me through your family's historical journey with such clarity and aplomb.
What I'm saying is, the ending was just too abrupt. And there was no resolution...which, I understand, was how it felt for you, too, when you learned of your great-grandmother's untimely, unexpected passing. But it left me feeling unsatisfied. I was very invested in this story, and now I'm feeling a little gypped. Help!! Please work your magic here!!
xoxox
reply by the author on 08-Sep-2024
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Wowie Zowie, Wendy! What a STORY!! This was absolutely fascinating. You did a tremendous job laying the framework by sharing that your father's parents were rather a mystery to you, and that your daughter was beginning to do research of your family's roots. At that point, I was all in! And you did NOT disappoint! You granted me this FASCINATING look at your great-grandmother's life, replete with her totally mysterious demise.
I liked all the conjecture that followed - that was exactly all the places my own mind was going, too. But then, you just kind of left me out there, stranded in dark on a precipice, to fend for myself , after you'd been so meticulous and generous with the way you guided me through your family's historical journey with such clarity and aplomb.
What I'm saying is, the ending was just too abrupt. And there was no resolution...which, I understand, was how it felt for you, too, when you learned of your great-grandmother's untimely, unexpected passing. But it left me feeling unsatisfied. I was very invested in this story, and now I'm feeling a little gypped. Help!! Please work your magic here!!
xoxox
Comment Written 07-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 08-Sep-2024
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Oh dear, I am so sorry! Move away from that precipice. The title should have forewarned you. LOL. Now we'll all just have to use our imaginations to envisage all the possible scenarios, and then make a choice to satisfy what we want - but I am afraid I can't help you. I know you want a tidy ending, and preferably a nice happy one - but I really don't know, and it is so frustrating. I think maybe the neighbour knew something .... and perhaps had some powerful connections.
Wendy
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Oh, I definitely think that, too, but I wanted you to say it. Even to end with that. You could use what you just wrote, in fact, as your perfect ending. Otherwise, to me, it just has that "unfinished" feeling.
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Thanks Rachelle. In a way I wanted to leave it unfinished, and unsatisfying. But I added it to the end, as that won't take away the fact that people will try to imagine various scenarios.
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I do understand what you're saying, but I think the very nature of it leaves it unsatisfying. But we needed to hear YOU say it so that it didn't rest on us, since we're just bystanders. You're the one actually in the thick of it all.
I hope I wasn't a nag about it today and that you didn't capitulate against your will. xoxo
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No, not against my will. When I wrote it I didn't quite know how to end it, since there was no real ending, so I thought it best to just leave it hanging, and a bit mysterious. No one else commented that it was unsatisfying, yet including that last little sentence about what I thought happened did perhaps bring a sense of completion which tied it together. So no, not against my will at all. If I didn't want to make a slight change, I wouldn't. I do refuse (nicely!) to accept plenty of other suggestions if I don't feel they are quite right for me. So, no worries at all.
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Oh, good; more than once I've been told how overbearing I am... xoxo
Comment from LJbutterfly
It is a difficult job trying to trace family history. Many stories stop at a dead end. My family on both my mother's side and father's side goes back to grandparents. My husbands family on his mother's side goes back three generations, and two on his father's side.
Your daughter has discovered a lot, even though there are still many, many questions about your grandmother. This is a fascinating story that leads all readers to think about ancestors. Thanks for sharing.
reply by the author on 08-Sep-2024
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It is a difficult job trying to trace family history. Many stories stop at a dead end. My family on both my mother's side and father's side goes back to grandparents. My husbands family on his mother's side goes back three generations, and two on his father's side.
Your daughter has discovered a lot, even though there are still many, many questions about your grandmother. This is a fascinating story that leads all readers to think about ancestors. Thanks for sharing.
Comment Written 07-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 08-Sep-2024
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Thank you very much for this lovely review. I am so pleased you enjoyed it.
Wendy
Comment from Carol Hillebrenner
This is a rather sad story about your grandmother's family. It is amazing that there was never any information about her siblings. You are a good writer, but you have one little habit you may want to break. You tend to repeat the same sentence or part of one in the next line or paragraph. Best wishes with your writing. I enjoyed reading this.
reply by the author on 07-Sep-2024
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This is a rather sad story about your grandmother's family. It is amazing that there was never any information about her siblings. You are a good writer, but you have one little habit you may want to break. You tend to repeat the same sentence or part of one in the next line or paragraph. Best wishes with your writing. I enjoyed reading this.
Comment Written 06-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 07-Sep-2024
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Thank you so much for reviewing. Much appreciated. Yes, I occasionally make a short statement for effect and then expand on it. I will go back and check. Thanks for the heads-up re repetition.
Wendy
Comment from Pearl Edwards
Wow, what an interesting family story, Wendy. My youngest daughter does a lot of family ancestry research and I know how frustrated she gets if she can't foloow links to get answers. But your family story is very intriguing, and as you say, sad to think no one asked the questions back then, or if they did, where are the answers.
Very intriguing, Wendy.
cheers,
valda
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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Wow, what an interesting family story, Wendy. My youngest daughter does a lot of family ancestry research and I know how frustrated she gets if she can't foloow links to get answers. But your family story is very intriguing, and as you say, sad to think no one asked the questions back then, or if they did, where are the answers.
Very intriguing, Wendy.
cheers,
valda
Comment Written 06-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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Yes, my daughter is frustrated too at times; often there are name changes (my father's brother, Percy Edward, was always Uncle Mick, and two of his sisters were nicknamed Dolly and Bubsy, but Bubsy was not the baby of the family and her real name was very different.)
Thanks so much for the nice review. I think there was foul play, covered up. The neighbour's property was huge, apparently, and dense rainforest around, and there would have been lots of wells and mine shafts, yet they found her body quite quickly - but no questions were asked.
Thank you so much for this fine review.
Wendy
Comment from Mintybee
What a sad story. I'm upset that no inquest was had for this poor woman who died in mysterious circumstances. I hope the kids were taken care of by someone. You have quite a mystery in your family's history - I wish it wasn't so tragic.
Mintybee
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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What a sad story. I'm upset that no inquest was had for this poor woman who died in mysterious circumstances. I hope the kids were taken care of by someone. You have quite a mystery in your family's history - I wish it wasn't so tragic.
Mintybee
Comment Written 06-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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Thank you for your caring review. Much appreciated. Yes, I have a feeling there must have been foul play.
Wendy
Comment from Jim Wile
This was a fascinating mystery, Wendy. I loved how you posed so many different questions about what might have happened and why this story didn't garner very much interest.
I think the most likely scenario that may explain both these mysteries was that she was murdered by the next door neighbor after being attacked by him, and that he was probably a bigwig in town with considerable influence. He probably "found" the body himself on his property and arranged with those over whom he held sway not to have an inquest or any real investigation, but to just forget it ever happened.
Of course, you'll then never get to the bottom of it since there would likely be no further records of it than that one newspaper article.
A fascinating story that leaves a lot to the imagination.
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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This was a fascinating mystery, Wendy. I loved how you posed so many different questions about what might have happened and why this story didn't garner very much interest.
I think the most likely scenario that may explain both these mysteries was that she was murdered by the next door neighbor after being attacked by him, and that he was probably a bigwig in town with considerable influence. He probably "found" the body himself on his property and arranged with those over whom he held sway not to have an inquest or any real investigation, but to just forget it ever happened.
Of course, you'll then never get to the bottom of it since there would likely be no further records of it than that one newspaper article.
A fascinating story that leaves a lot to the imagination.
Comment Written 06-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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I have a feeling you may well be right. It's not a pleasant scenario, and I won't ever know. Thanks so much for the fine and thoughtful review.
Wendy
Comment from zanya
How differently life was lived for our forbearers -difficult demanding lives in difficult circumstances. I often mull over the possibility of doing a search on my family tree also. Can seem like a daunting task tying up all the threads. Share how you get on if you have a moment.
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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How differently life was lived for our forbearers -difficult demanding lives in difficult circumstances. I often mull over the possibility of doing a search on my family tree also. Can seem like a daunting task tying up all the threads. Share how you get on if you have a moment.
Comment Written 06-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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Yes, life must have been very hard. My daughter is doing all the hard work, and she's quite fascinated by her discoveries. I'll probably be sharing more! Thank you so much for reviewing!
Wendy
Comment from Dolly'sPoems
This is a fascinating story Wendy and I think a lot of people got away with murder years ago as deaths were not properly investigated. There was no forensic science and no one cared to know the real circumstances of someone's death. It is good to research the past but it often leaves a lot of unanswered questions that die with those long gone, a fine post, love Dolly x x x
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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This is a fascinating story Wendy and I think a lot of people got away with murder years ago as deaths were not properly investigated. There was no forensic science and no one cared to know the real circumstances of someone's death. It is good to research the past but it often leaves a lot of unanswered questions that die with those long gone, a fine post, love Dolly x x x
Comment Written 05-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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Exactly right in all you say. We will never have answers, but I am just becoming aware of how little I know about my forebears, and how much I will never know. Thanks so much for your thoughtful review.
Wendy
Comment from T B Botts
Hello Wendy,
I so wish you could find some answers to this mystery. I suppose in that rugged country there were many things that were never discovered. It was a much different time back then. It seems odd that anyone else would be out on a dark, stormy night, even if they might have had ill intentions, unless of course someone was stalking her. This was well written and very interesting gal. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Have a blessed day.
Tom
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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Hello Wendy,
I so wish you could find some answers to this mystery. I suppose in that rugged country there were many things that were never discovered. It was a much different time back then. It seems odd that anyone else would be out on a dark, stormy night, even if they might have had ill intentions, unless of course someone was stalking her. This was well written and very interesting gal. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Have a blessed day.
Tom
Comment Written 05-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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Yes, you are right. The country was and is very rugged,and thre are probably quite a few stories which will never be told. Who knows what happened? Was it a simple accident but people did not count women to be worthy of an inquest? Or something more sinister? I wonder if the neighbour was even questioned, and whether he played any role in her death. I also wonder how they found her body so quickly, in that terrain? We'll never know. Thank you so much for your very positive review and six stars. Very much appreciated.
Wendy
Wendy
Comment from GWHARGIS
It is strange how now in an age of information, things like that just happened. My maternal grandfather just suddenly appeared at 19 years old. We think he was an Irish slave who ran away and came to the US. There are simply no information before that. This was very interesting. Hopefully, no crime was committed against her. But sad for your grandmother. Gretchen
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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It is strange how now in an age of information, things like that just happened. My maternal grandfather just suddenly appeared at 19 years old. We think he was an Irish slave who ran away and came to the US. There are simply no information before that. This was very interesting. Hopefully, no crime was committed against her. But sad for your grandmother. Gretchen
Comment Written 04-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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Thank you very much Gretchen. Yes, it's strange how people can either suddenly appear, or suddenly disappear, and no other information, eg shipping passenger records, is available. I appreciate your fine review.
Wendy
