My name is Mary-Ann and, as I know today, I was named after my paternal great grandma. I grew up in a village where, of course everyone but me "knew". I must admit, that after all these years I still find it difficult to speak about this publicly but I realize that it is important to do so to help the many others who are still searching.

 

 

After many years of searching, the longing and the heartache and the many unanswered questions, turning each stone to discover nothing, always searching for the 'other half' I was successful but it was a very long way.

I would like to tell you about myself, my search and what I do now to help others in similar situations.

I was fourteen years of age when I learned that my biological father was american. As his name was Brown it was quite difficult to trace him. Of course only what the mothers told could be recorded and it later turned out that not only his hometown but also his middle name were recorded wrong and everyone but the military only knew him by his middle name Harlan.

Back when I started my search no one in the United States nor in Germany was or could be of help. The soldiers right to stay anonymus was protected and in Germany the mothers right to keep the facts to herself was valued higher than the childs right to know its own descend. This has changed considerably in the meantime.

My grandma, whom I loved dearly, told me not to be too upset as I had quite an ancestral line to be proud of and that my maternal ancestors have lived in the same town for more than three hundred years. She also told me that she and my grandpa wouldn't allow their daughter and my dad to get married. If she only said that to comfort me, I don't know but her telling me about my maternal ancestors and me not knowing anything about my paternal family got me started with genealogy. I wanted to belong and at least know one half of my roots. My grandma patiently taught me the old german script and I was hoping to find a trace of my dad along my way of research. I have now researched them back to the 1600s, one line even back to the 1400s and my paternal line back to abt. 1850.

Back when I started my search I didn't know that I would have to search for that trace of my dad for so many years. But even if I had known that wouldn't have stopped me searching. Often times I wanted to give up but then, after a few months the longing started again. I have searched countless avenues that often ended in dead ends, spent thousands of Dollars during the years. But in the end I can say it was worth all the effort.

As is often the case my mother wouldn't talk about the subject at all, she wouldn't even tell me a name. It was not until some years later that I got some information, not from her, of course, when I was of age. It was the year when I turned 18 that the law was changed and one was of age at 18. I had hoped for that change so much - three years less to wait to get access to my records. But, when I went to see my records all the information I got was that my record had already been sent to me. I hadn't received anything of course. About six years later I found out that not everything was sent (lost) so I finally got some information but was not allowed to actually look at my record but could ask questions. I finally got a name, hometown, which later turned out to be wrong, unit number and age. I started searching - one year, two years, ten years - nothing. After thirty years of searching, interrupted by the birth of my son and living and working in the United States and for the US Military, one day, when I was about to give up for good, the miracle happened. I finally found my family and received my first letter from them shortly before Christmas, making this a very, very special Christmas. Not only did I receive a warm, welcoming letter but also some photos, one showing my dad (on the left) in the Military and the other while with the Kentucky State Police. Unfortunately, my dad already passed away in 1984 at the age of 61 years but I am in contact with his his sister and his first cousin and they have welcomed me into the family. My dad was married three times but I am - as far as I know - his only child. He was a Veteran of World War II and was stationed in Europe with the U.S. Military from 1943 to 1947, then seperated and became a State Trooper for the newly established Kentucky State Police. He later went back into the Military and overseas again.

My grandma was right, I have every reason to be proud of my ancestry. So has my son. His paternal ancestors from Flanders were among the first settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) in the early 1600s. Both his granddads were WWII veterans and his dad is a Viet-nam veteran and both, his maternal grandpa and his father became police officers after they were honorably discharged from the military. It was a very sad day for us when my father in law passed away in 2001. He was a wonderful and kind man who dearly loved his family and his german grandson.

Through the years I have not only gained a lot of knowledge about parental searches and genealogy but have also met many helpful people, some of them have become very dear and close friends who have not only gone out of their way to help me but whom I have in return been able to help with their own genealogy and searches. Maybe you care to take a look at my genealogy website located at http://www.searchingforyou.org/myancestors/.

Over the past years I have been able to help many people find their missing link, ancestors, lost friends, birth families as well as living family members, birth fathers and grandfathers who were stationed overseas during WWII and post WWII.

I volunteer for a number of genealogical and historical organizations in Germany and in the United States and have been a member of the genealogical society 'Verein für Familien- und Wappenkunde' in Baden-Wuerttemberg since 1985.

To assist others in their quest to find lost family members, friends, ancestors and descendants I have set up SearchingForYou, a professional tracing service. I enjoy helping others in their search for their missing link and being able help connect them with their lost family or friends. If you need help with your search please don't hesistate to contact me. I will do my very best to help you.