BY GEORGE! by Charles S. Latham Sr., [email protected] Saratoga County, New York

I had planned to drive more than an hour to search for a lost cemetery and thought my 81-year-old mother would enjoy the autumn ride. I promised we would stop at a nursing home on the way back to visit her 84-year-old sister, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Mom was eager to go, but she warned that I should not expect much conversation from my aunt and possibly she would not even recognize me. My cemetery research was a futile effort, but the rest of the day was nothing short of amazing.

My aunt was exceptionally alert and responsive. I seized the opportunity to ask whether she remembered her grandfather's first name because her memory was the very last source for this information. Her response was "George." Mom just shook her head saying "I'm pretty sure that's not it. It just doesn't sound right." The conversation drifted off that subject for a few seconds and then, out of the blue, my aunt said "Victor." Mom's eyes got big and she said, "I think she's right. That sounds familiar to me." Needless to say, I was very anxious to get home to my computer and the Internet.

Victor SHORT of Brunswick County, Virginia married Lilla KEYES from Saratoga Springs, New York, and had a daughter named Jennie who married Berorth S. BULLARD of Saratoga Springs. They had four daughters, one of whom was Jennie, my aunt.

But this story isn't finished until I tell you that Victor SHORT's father was named "George"!