Historic passenger lists of ships go online - Yahoo! News: "LONDON (Reuters) - People looking to track ancestors who emigrated from British ports will from Wednesday be able to search online passenger lists of the ships that carried them to new lands.
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Released by Britain's National Archives, the passenger manifests give an insight into all long-distance trips made by 30 million travelers from the country's ports between 1890 and 1960, including that of the Titanic which sank in 1912.
'We hope the digitization will open up a hugely valuable resource for genealogists and social historians all over the world,' said Dan Jones, National Archives' head of business development.
The records, available via commercial Web site
findmypast.com which was licensed by The National Archives, also show the passages of trans-European migrants."
Grandma Jackman passes away at 90
On January 7, 2007 Elizabeth Udy Jackman passed away at home in the company of her son, two daughters and one of her many grandchildren. We had celebrated her
90th birthday back in August. She has been suffering from heart failure for some time.
We regularly spend Sunday evening at my parents having tacos. The kids really look forward to Sunday dinner and we all enjoy ourselves. On Thursday, dad called to let me know that we would not be able to have Sunday dinner at his house because his mother's health had a taken a turn for the worse and he would be spending the next few days at her house helping his sister Betty Lu take care of her. My Aunt Betty had moved in with grandma and had been taking care of her for the last couple of months.
My wife had baked some homemade bread and suggested that I take some over to my dad and aunt to enjoy. Often, people who are caring for others do not have much time care for themselves and my wife thought it would be a nice treat for them. About 4:00 P.M. I drove over to grandma's house by myself with a loaf of bread.
When I arrived my father and both of his sisters were just finishing up their dinner. I gave them the bread and dad took me in to say hi to grandma. She had been sleeping for about 5 days. That morning she seemed in some distress so dad had moved the rocker from the living room to the bedroom and that was where she was sleeping. Dad gently tried to wake her so we could say hello, but she remained asleep.
We then moved to the living room where we could chat. My dad and his sisters were trying to make a very difficult decision. Grandma's condition had worsened to the point that she really needed to be moved to a rest home where she could be given professional care. However, both her mother and husband had passed away in nursing homes and she really did not want to spend her last days on earth there. It was her wish to die at home and all 3 of her children respected and understood her feelings. It was then very difficult that her condition required them to make such a decision.
As my dad and I talked about it, I realized that this was probably the last day that grandma would be able to spend in her own home. She had lived there since 1970 and I do not remember her not living there, except for the few years her and grandpa bought a motor home and spent winters in Arizona. I called my wife and told her. We decided not to bring the kids over to say goodbye. We had visited her a couple of weeks ago and thought it better for the kids to remember her as she was then.
While grandma was sleeping in her bedroom, my father and 2 aunts and I were in the living room reminiscing. I heard lots of of things from my father's childhood I had never heard before. For example, they had a house on Homer Street build around a tree. In the middle of the house there was tree growing and the house had been built around it. Auntie Sue made us all some popcorn and enjoyed an hour or so of sitting and talking.
Around 7:30 P.M. we decided to give grandma a blessing and move her back to her bed for the night. Dad asked if I could help. We gave her a short blessing and then moved her to the bed. Once she was in bed, dad and I went back to the living room so his sisters could get her ready for bed. She passed away a few minutes later as she had wanted; at home, in her own bed and with the company of her children.
I would like to thank the many people who cared for my grandmother. She had many friends and faithful home teachers who were a blessing to her. Elaine, the hospice nurse, was caring and professional. She really helped in those hours following and made it a bit easier for everyone. Of course, my father and his siblings have worked hard to make sure she could stay at home as long as possible.
The funeral has not been set but will be later this week. Dad is going to meet with the funeral director today to make all the arrangements. Grandma had made many of the arrangements previously, which will make it somewhat easier.
Goodbye Grandma.
