I wish I could tell my Grandma Flanders

L to R: Nannie Becker Flanders,
Zella Page Hoover, Ellen Martin

Six years ago I wrote a story on my blog about discovering that I was a cousin of my Grandma Flanders' best friend, Zella Hoover. You can read it here.

"Hoover" as we called her, is pictured in the middle of the photo at left, with my grandmother on the far left. 

Hoover had a son Bennett who was killed in an auto accident in 1949. Bennett's wife, Marjorie Ellen Mowery Hoover, was also tragically killed in that accident, but their two-month-old son "Chris" survived unharmed. As I was growing up and visited my Grandma Flanders and her friend Hoover, Marjorie's mother Ellen Martin resided with Hoover and the two grandmas worked together to raise Chris.  

My research a decade ago showed that I was a cousin of Hoover. My research just two days ago revealed that I'm also a cousin of Matt, the son I adopted as an infant. Just as I prepared to close my computer and go to bed last night, I discovered that my son, through his birth parents' ancestry, and I, through my Flanders ancestry, are also cousins of Hoover. I prepared this chart above to show those relationships. I couldn't be happier to know that my son and I share direct ancestors, and now to learn that he and I are both cousins of this very kind friend of my extended family, Zella Hoover. I just wish I could share the news with my Grandma Flanders!