I have a million reasons to be thankful for my grandmother, who I called "Nanya". One of the reasons I am thankful for her is that she instilled in me an interest in family history, on both her side of the family and my grandfather's side of his family. One of the best things that she told me was when I asked if we were related to the O'Meara family. The O'Meara's were often included in our family gatherings and I knew that Jo O'Meara was my great-grandmother's best friend. So when I asked that of Nanya, she casually said "Oh, they're shirt-tale relatives from way back in Ireland.". That was probably when I was around twelve years old. About thirty-five years later, I began doing genealogy and remembered that comment. It took a lot of research, but eventually I found the connections between the families! And it did go back to Ireland in the early 1800's. It's so amazing to think that the families are still connected....as it turned out a friend I know from church is related to the O'Meara family! Just that one question and comment so many years ago, lead to so much family history!
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