Finding Shirley by Pat Jeanne Davis As a child, I missed out on getting to know many relatives on my father’s side of the family. Unfortunately, Dad avoided most of them because of the tense relationship that existed between his father and his sister, Jane. Still, Dad and his brother, Bill, remained close. Uncle Bill would bring my cousin Shirley to our home. During warm days while our parents socialized inside, we played in the back alley or on the sidewalk out front. Then my family moved out of the city to the country many miles away. I had a big yard now, but I didn’t have my one special playmate. I missed Shirley for a very long time. At seventeen, I moved back to the big city. My father was in poor health and died that year. I tried to imagine what life was like for my cousin, Shirley. Was she entering college, too? No one seemed to know, except that her mother had remarried and they had moved out of state. As I got much older, the desire to connect with what remained of Dad’s family emerged. But it was my cousin in particular that I wanted to see again. My husband thought my idea of a family reunion was wonderful. I remembered the name of a second cousin. Frank was nearly eighty years old and still in the realestate business. “You’re Tom’s daughter,” he said. “Your father and I were buddies as boys. I’ll have to tell my brother you called.” He shared some of his memories of Dad with me over the phone. “I can’t tell you anything about your Uncle Bill’s daughter. But I’ll give you your Aunt Jane’s phone number. She may know where Shirley’s living.” “Would you be interested in a family reunion?” I asked. “I’m sure my brothers and sisters would be too,” he replied, excitement in his voice. Frank gave me the addresses of my father’s sister and cousins who were now quite elderly. I reached Aunt Jane at her nursing home. “You're my brother Tom’s daughter. I want to see you.”
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