Surprises.....

Last week, just in time for the upcoming Easter holiday, interesting information reached me suddenly, via email. It should not have surprised me since I have had previous similar experiences, especially in the past 5-6 years, but, nonetheless, it did.

Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, which I have tried to keep up with since I got into this field more than 30 years ago, I heard from another relative that I didn’t know existed, and is even closer to me than I ever dreamed.

He is another member on the paternal side of my family, who ‘found’ me thanks to the website that I have created in the name of my family about 6 years ago. As a college student, doing research online and discovering family relations on the part of his mother, he excitedly got in touch, and, to my great delight, I have since obtained additional input on one of my father’s sisters and her descendants.

About 12 years ago, in returning to Tirana (Albania), where I originated from and lived as a baby, I made a great discovery in the National Archives. I found a family tree, handwritten by my father, which traced his male ancestry all the way back to the year 1444. This was the only time when Albania was really independent from centuries of foreign invasions, thanks to the leadership of its national hero, Giorgio Kastriota, who became known in history as “Skanderbeg”. Unfortunately this state of freedom only lasted during his life time. In addition to foreign occupations, several wars and dictatorships also played a great part in separating family members.

At the opening up of Albania, after the fall of communism, I was contacted by old friends of my family and thus began my return to the country that I never thought I would see again. In the past decade I have had many occasions of visiting other areas inhabited by Albanians not only within the current borders and the state of Montenegro, but also the large Albanian diaspora in the US and Europe. Many are the relatives I found and this process continues to today. The family tree initiated by my father is getting greatly populated with data from a variety of sources, and it now contains almost 600 specific names, covering both maternal and paternal relationships.