A Thread to Follow

In the next letter, Kathryn mentions only one name on her side, “John also is enjoying the best of health. He is taking his after dinner nap.”

They are obviously living together, and there seems to be an air of intimacy reserved for family, so I assumed that John was her husband and made a note to search “John Lorenz”.

The story of Aunt Kathryn will be told a little differently than my other family history blog posts because I think the story of how I “rediscovered” a relative, and in turn a completely new side of my family, is as interesting as the woman whose story I’m telling.

The Letters – June 2004

I stared at the envelope, trying to make sense of the unfamiliar name in the upper left hand corner, K.M. Lorenz. Who is that? 

Among the names I’d become so familiar with during the decades of researching my family’s history, Lorenz hadn’t popped up once. The postmark from Remsen, Iowa didn’t ring any bells, either.