Alrighty then... I had all these eloquent ideas of how to write floating around yesterday, as I was walking on sunshine... I'm still happy about this, but my mind is zinging wanting to discover NOW, not just sit and write about the process. I know they're not going anywhere, they've been buried almost a hundred years, so I should be able to do this.
When I got off the BART, the first thing I did was walk straight to the Department of Public Health and Vital Statistics. It's so grand that all these things are right there within walking distance of the station. I stood in line (should have filled out my forms then) with everyone else, although there was a sign or two that said "Genealogists and Government Agencies must see cashier for service", which was encouraging. I don't remember seeing that before.
Now I should have finished writing this back in May, but now it's January and the details have deteriorated further. The guy at the window was nice and helpful. I gave him the sheet I made up with all the detective hints on it as well as the prescribed forms for ordering death certificates. Then I had to wait. I was starving, so I went to a restaraunt around the corner and waited for a table until I was too anxious to eat and left again. I don't remember if I ever ate in the city. When I went back I was only partially disappointed, and here's why.
After all these years, the death record has not listed as Mary Ellen Howard, but Ellen Mary! I got the death certificate for Ellen that day because everything else matched up. I didn't have the correct dates for Thomas Howard until after I spoke with someone at the cemetery. Now, with a solid date and calling her Ellen, they found them both. I could get his death certificate right now. I could go to the cemetery plot right now, and though I'm sure their names aren't in stone, at least I'd know where the blazes their bones are! That's something!
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