A-Z Blogging Challenge - The letter O is for Ostrzycki!

In 2017, there was a challenge. I heard about it from jillballau blog and more information can be found out about it on the A-Z Blogging Challenge (which was at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/) page itself. However, as I was testing links I found the A-Z Blogging Challenge link is no longer working *frown*

Many people had done this challenge in April 2017, but I’m a rebel and do things when I have time, so I’ll do mine now. I’ve been working on it over many days, and was hoping to get it all done before posting BUT it’s taking me a lot longer than I expected. I’ll do a few posts now and work on the rest. 

I know I have about ½ of this challenge done in draft format, so not too bad.  

What can I say – I’m an original. So, here I go…

The letter O is for Ostrzycki!

My maternal great grandmother's married name is Valerie Ostrzycki. This is her Americanized name. Walter Ostrzycki was my maternal great grandfather. These are my immigrants from Poland on my grandmother's side. 

My 2x great grandparents with my great grandmother listed. Credit

My mother never knew this side of her family. The closest she heard was "We have some family in Pennsylvania." and that was it. She didn't know names or anything. 

Then I started my research. I searched for my grandmother's name which was Janet Gauquie. This led me to some information on my grandfather's side which you run with because you never know when you'll get that information again as we  know in genealogy. 

Anyhow, long after I started to search on her name again. I came across an obituary which listed Janet Gauquie as the daughter of Bernice Jagodzinski. It also listed a Genevieve which, in my gut, told me was the person I knew as "Aunt Honey". 

My great grandmother's obituary listing my grandmother (in yellow). Credit on image.

From there I had a name and a place which I started to research. Before long, I started to find cousins and cousins and great aunts and uncles. Wow! It was really amazing just how many people who were family we didn't know about. 

One of these searches also produced a picture of Valerie Ostrzycki. On her headstone. This made me suck in my breath when I saw it. Not only because it was a picture of my 2x great grandmother and her headstone, but because it was like looking at MY mother. 

My 2x great grandparent's headstones in PA. Credit

You be the judge - do they look alike? 

My 2x great grandmother Credit

My mother, Jo Ann Credit: Jo Ann J. Fitzgerald

Anyhow, then I contacted one of the cousins and gave them some background. He was, and still is, leery about me and our side. Even after I shared a picture of my mother. However, we did talk a few times and exchange pictures which he gave me another of my 2x great grandmother which shows a great likeness to my mother but the slight and thin of her body hasn't been passed along or at least not to any of us. 

This being said they did know someone was in New York but didn't know where to look. 

My Great Aunt Genevieve "Aunt Honey" Credit

I did contact someone who had Aunt Honey on their family tree as well. She was the aunt I thought she was because I saw some pictures of her and the person I remember were one in the same. Once again I filled her in on who I was and why I was contacting her. She replied back asking why I was contacting her. I asked her if she knew why my grandmother was in the hospitals and if there were any family members who wanted to get to know us. 

Well, wrong thing to say because I was told she had a mental problem, which they were told never to talk about, and no. No one wanted to know us and she never replied back. 

Some times you hit gold and other times black coal. The black coal was this second person. 

Anyhow, this lead me to start a Facebook group for this side of the family. Since then, it has been growing by leaps and bounds and now we've even joined up Walter's brother's family to ours and have a relative from even farther up the chain who still lives in Poland. 

We're learning from each other and we must get together next time we hit the states.  This is the gold and not the coal.

The gold among the coal. Credit