THE DAILY DIVERSION

While this last week was a pretty bad one for me, some good did come out of it. Through all of the sadness and mourning, I found out a lot about my family, their history, and, especially my Grandpa.

I found out that for nearly 150 years there has been a Condray living in Dent County, Missouri. As of the evening of Sunday, February 24, 2008, there were no longer any Condray's living there. From the original family from Dent County, only three people continue to live. Those would be myself, my sister, and my father.

It is known that my Grandpa was one of the last of the descendants from the original settlers of the county. His mother, Mabel Adams, was a direct descendant from the original Adams' family that settled in the area in the early 1800's, with links to many other "famous" Adams'.

My last name, Condray, is French, while we have quite a bit of Cherokee, Welsh, and English in the family. Of course, I get some other things from the other side of my family, but I didn't really know about the French side.

I found out that, somewhere down the line, I am related to nearly every single person who has lived or currently lives in Dent County, especially Salem, Missouri. Obviously some people have moved in, which I wouldn't be related to, but we started the joke that it was a good thing I married someone not from Missouri, because I would probably be related to them otherwise.

Lastly, and most sadly, I found out what kind of man my Grandpa was. Like I said in my previous post, I didn't really know him. As children we weren't really around him that much, but we quickly found out that he really thought the world of us and constantly talked about us to everyone he knew. We found out that he never put on airs and was always who he was.

I heard tons of funny stories from the people who knew him best. I learned about his passions, his loves, and just about everything I never knew. This is exactly what makes me the most sad. Much like my Mother's father, I never really knew my Grandpa. He was never open with me, nor did it ever seem like he went out of his way to spend time with us.

However, I know he loved us dearly and we meant the world to him. Because of that, my heart aches. My heart also aches for what could have been and for that relationship that was never forged.