Writing letters to strangers

[Pollynation]

I do know how upsetting it can be. I have contacted 2 people through GenesReunited myself and one has ignored me whilst the other did reply to start with and has now decided to ignore me. 

On the other hand i contacted one person through genes and we have now a very good relationship and i hope a lasting friendship. This person is a first cousin to me. We get on great and i have shared all the family tree information with her. We telephone each other and have met a few times.

By using rootschat i have also found living relatives in Warrington, St Helen's , London and Qatar (near Saudi Arabia). These people i am in contact with through e-mail only. They have helped me as much as i have helped them.

So to all those who have had a bad time with "rellies" , don't give up! It might take a while but i'm sure you will find someone in your tree eventually who shares "the family tree bug".
And finally, to all those people who do not reply on GenesReunited,  you are losing out on some great family historians and possibly some good friends too. I personally think you can never have too many friends.

I hope you have some success happy granny. Will let you know the outcome of those letters.

best wishes
Pauline

[Pollynation]

Just to let you know what happened. I have some fantastic news.

I received an e-mail today from Canada
It definitely looks like we share the same family and are going to start swapping all the info we have. I'm over the moon.

Best wishes
Pauline

[the happy granny]

Well done. I  hope you have lots of fun swapping information.

kind regards

Sue

[tulstig]

I have had a similar GenesReunited saga. after waiting for a reply for 3 weeks I had a short note saying that they thought we shared a G G grandfather,and could I send them more info. I sent them all the info I had for our shared line and requested a fair swap - this was over a month ago & despite 2 reminder e-mails I've still heard nothing. 

However on  a happier note I wrote to an old addres for a 2nd cousin (enclosing stamped )SAE. The present occupier's forwarded the letter on, and within a week I had an e-mail filling in some of my tree gaps, including family photos and certificates.

Guess you win some you lose some. But I'm definitely wary of GRU.

Mark

[the happy granny]

I am sorry you had the same experience as me Mark.

I just don't see the point of putting your tree on the site unless you want to be reunited and share information.You may just as well keep it on your computer and not pay membership to the site.

We could go through the brick wall we have if only they would share the next generation and information with us !

I too have happier notes and received photo's from other branches of my tree and as you say it's San Fairy Ann

Unco-operative people ..........happily it's a rare experience

Sue

[tulstig]

Yes, Sue,
And there's no better place than Rootschat for getting the help - For me anyway -it's really pushed down, knocked over and blown up some of my brick walls. I just wish I'd found it before giving over my hard-earned euros to GRU!
Mark 

[the happy granny]

RootsChat .........it's a great family to belong to   

Sue

[Pollynation]

I definitly agree with you about GR. They souldn't put the info on if they're not interested. I Though that was the whole idea??? You do it to meet people sharing your tree?? Thats why it's called Genes Reunited!

But.. this is a far better site anyway, i've always found the people on here so nice and willing to help if they can. I try to help others too. There is alot of people on here who have far more experience than me. But i try in my own way

Best wishes
Pauline

[the happy granny]

Yes .............and I always thought that people who truly shared my genes were as kind and as helpful as me!!!

Happy searching and sharing on RootsChat     

Sue