I called my aunt in New York to say hi, to check up on them, you know, to see how things are going. She has kids and grand kids and my uncle and I talk to my cousins all the time, but not my aunt. She’s going stir crazy, she’s one to be out and about all the time, we go on lots of day and weekend trips when I’m up there – back and forth to the Hamptons, Oktoberfest, Christmas festivals, shopping, museums, etc. So to be locked up in the house this long is not her thing. I hope I can get there this summer to see them all as I usually do.

Anyway, we were talking about the pandemic and she brought up her and my father’s aunt Lucy who died of the pandemic of 1918. I had never heard this before.

My whole life I never knew my grandmother had another sister. She had a very large family, I think 11 brothers and sisters, so I guess Lucy got lost in the mix. But she passed away at age 28 in 1918. That means she was born in 1890. My grandmother was born in 1911, she was one of the younger ones and I guess only 7 when her sister passed away.

I asked my father if he had a photo of Lucy, he says he doesn’t.

Sad, but I’m shocked that this is the first time I am hearing this. I guess I should do one of  those Ancestry.com tests to find out more about the family.