13 Jul 2010
I was born a Wright - I'm the only girl, so everyone else has kept the name. It's kinda fun on occasion. Cute nephew Lance (Wright, of course) put an answering message on his folks' phone that I'm going to have to insert later - it includes the greatest collection of "Wright" puns in a row I've heard: "If you're looking for the Wright house, then you've called the Wright
number. But Wright now we can't answer the phone. So please leave a
message Wright after the tone, and we'll get Wright back to you. Thanks.
And have a Wrighteous day."
I collect "new" Wright relatives wherever I can - hoping that one of them will lead me back to my genealogical brick wall - Lot Wright. But no, they are all just fun - and different - people that happen to share some of my gene pool.
In the past few years I've added first cousin Jack - an alternative lifestyle person living in Eastern Idaho with his buffalo heads, hand carved knifes made of deer antlers, tepees, a portable welder, and an old dilapidated bus full of antlers and horns, all of which he utilizes in his Mountain Man Rendezvous and re-enactments. One is coming up in West Yellowstone in early August, btw - tell him I sent you.
We stopped to see Jack yesterday. He has no phone, so until recently, snail mail was the only way to contact him. Now his buddy with a computer and email is back in town, so very occasionally there are very short notes to let us know he's still alive. He is in his late 70s, so this is a realistic concern. He still rides his 1976 Harley Chopper whenever he has time.
Me 'n Cuzzin Mad Jack a couple of years ago when we first met.
For a change, I was the one discovered by Robert, son of my deceased cousin Lee. It was all due to old family history internet postings. We haven't met face to face, but I'd like to. We'll make a point of stopping in North Dakota next time we head East. He's sorta the antithesis of Jack - Robert is an executive chef for a major hotel chain. But he also rides and loves a Harley - so the Wright connection is there. Motorcycles are part of the family history, and blood. Lots of blood - he and Cheryl's dad Lee was killed on his.
Cuzzin' Robert on his Harley.
Robert helped me make the connection with Lee's daughter - his half sister, Cheryl. We first met her in Tucson but she has relocated to Portland. I don't think she was running away from us, but it's possible. Cheryl is in the health care field and recently completed her doctorate. She's the only acupuncturist I know of in the family. Jack was very impressed when we told him of her education and expertise in Chinese herbal medicine - he has studied Native American customs and methods extensively, and is a believer in non-traditional medicine.
Cheryl and Chris - Mt Hood
Bill, another find, is in Texas. He goes back a generation, whereas Robert and Cheryl go forward. Bill was my father's first cousin, but his dad Will was much older when he was born and died fairly soon thereafter, so he totally lost touch with the "right" Wright side of his blood. Bill is a well-known square dance instructor and caller in the San Antonio and Gulf Region. We've met people who recognize his name and have "danced to him." Both Bill and his dad were career military.
Cuzzins Bill and Beth along the river in San Antonio
Through Bill, I became remotely acquainted with his son Daniel - my 2nd cousin - a graphic designer, photographer extraordinaire and a Christian who puts his words into actions.
I'm trying to talk Cheryl into putting some family stories together to give us all a sense of her dad Lee's life - he was a decorated Air Force pilot in Korea and Vietnam. Bill was career Air Force - and was learning to ride a Harley last time we saw him. Fits right in, y'know?
Back before all of these discoveries, I "found" the "lost" family of my great-grandfather Daniel Gard Wright and his second wife - my great-grandmother died young (after 6 children in 8 years!) We attended the family's traditional Memorial Day gathering in the Stockton, Calif. area in 2003. They drug out photos and stories and family group charts I had never seen. It was a Wow! and a Happy Dance! We've somewhat stayed in touch with them, but it's time for another Memorial Day visit, methinks.
This just seemed like a representative photo of our family gatherings... I can't recall what they were looking for - a rocket, I think.
One of their younger generation contacted me recently saying she has some old photos of Bill's father "Will" from his Spanish-American War days - another career military man. I'm furnishing email addresses for them to make the connections.
William Daniel Wright (1868-1938)
One of the kissin' cousins from that "Wright" group was also the one that sent me a whole book of postcards Will had sent to his half-sister Ellen (cousin Ellen's grandmother) during his army days. He was stationed in the Philippines, in Texas and in Washington DC, among others. You must admire my ethics and self-control when I admit I made myself forward them ALL to Bill, including the two he sent her from College Park, Maryland, when he watched Wilbur and Orville Wright (no relatives!) fly a test for the Army in 1909.
Well, I made the Wright connections, and Yes, I am always Wright. Just ask Chris...
