A true story from Sirrý Sig´s life
At a certain point in life things change, and suddenly one finds it important
to figure out where one comes from.
Who am I? Where do I come from? Who are
my ancestors?
Yes, as I get older I would like to
know more about who my grandfather; my father’s father was / is. There is a
whole generation of my family missing.
But I can imagine, that no one wants to know the answers to these questions as much as my dad would like to know who his father was / is.
My dad, was about two years old, when his mother died. When he grew up, no one knew the name of his father, nor where he came from.
He heard rumors that his father was an American, British, a Frenchman, an Indian or someone from Florida. He also heard rumors that his father had died just off the coast of Reykjavík, and last but not least, that his parents had been engaged and it had been announced in the papers.
My father, Sigurður Konráð Konráðsson, asked me to look into it, which I did. A few years ago I spent a good deal of time browsing at the National Archives, looking through old newspapers with out finding a trace. Finally I gave up.
I was not the only one looking. However none of us found anything about my grandmother and grandfather’s engagement in these papers. Some of the paper-sheets were also missing bits and pieces. After months of looking, I thought that the engagement announcement, if it ever existed, must have been on one of these missing papers.
Maybe things were just the way the they were supposed to be.
One evening earlier this month, I was working on a story and I was looking for information on the Internet. I was about to go to bed when I tried browsing this fantastic web applications timarit.is (transl. Magazines.is) and without thinking or by dumb luck, I typed in the name of my grandmother and the date of the engagement. Then I scrolled down the screen for a moment and couldn´t believe my own eyes, there it was! The engagement! In black and white. Of course I did not go to bed.
But I can imagine, that no one wants to know the answers to these questions as much as my dad would like to know who his father was / is.
My dad, was about two years old, when his mother died. When he grew up, no one knew the name of his father, nor where he came from.
He heard rumors that his father was an American, British, a Frenchman, an Indian or someone from Florida. He also heard rumors that his father had died just off the coast of Reykjavík, and last but not least, that his parents had been engaged and it had been announced in the papers.
My father, Sigurður Konráð Konráðsson, asked me to look into it, which I did. A few years ago I spent a good deal of time browsing at the National Archives, looking through old newspapers with out finding a trace. Finally I gave up.
I was not the only one looking. However none of us found anything about my grandmother and grandfather’s engagement in these papers. Some of the paper-sheets were also missing bits and pieces. After months of looking, I thought that the engagement announcement, if it ever existed, must have been on one of these missing papers.
Maybe things were just the way the they were supposed to be.
One evening earlier this month, I was working on a story and I was looking for information on the Internet. I was about to go to bed when I tried browsing this fantastic web applications timarit.is (transl. Magazines.is) and without thinking or by dumb luck, I typed in the name of my grandmother and the date of the engagement. Then I scrolled down the screen for a moment and couldn´t believe my own eyes, there it was! The engagement! In black and white. Of course I did not go to bed.
I had found the name of the man who
was engaged to my grandmother, E. Bray.
I immediately sent my dad e-mails and continued to search for more information on E. Bray but have not found anything yet.
Now we have contacted the U.S. Embassy and they have given us some information about how to go about continuing our search. I´m gathering all the information we have about this person, who is possible, our grandfather. But the information does not amount to much. We just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
I immediately sent my dad e-mails and continued to search for more information on E. Bray but have not found anything yet.
Now we have contacted the U.S. Embassy and they have given us some information about how to go about continuing our search. I´m gathering all the information we have about this person, who is possible, our grandfather. But the information does not amount to much. We just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Funny how things turn out sometimes. Is
this a coincidence or fate?
And I have to ask, why now?
This story is true. It is not over and the end is not foreseeable.
This story is true. It is not over and the end is not foreseeable.
If you knew of a young man named E.
Brady, about 20 years of age who was stationed in Iceland during the world war
from 1941 -1945, then please contact us. My father, me, my siblings and my
children would love to know something about this missing link from our family
tree.
No comments:
Post a Comment