Peter Infelt And Nellie Hebbring
It is said that Fortune favors the bold. In this white-knuckle, hair-raising and ice-cold adventure, Fortune favored me this night as I struck genealogy gold!
I'm in Michigan on one of my many genealogy trips and I get the call I'd been hoping for.
"Hey Danny, it's Sue Hamilton in Detroit. How quick can you get here? Mary is willing to get the family pictures out for you, but only tonight!"
A little backstory here . . . Sue's sister, Mary, had held these pictures for 40 years and had never let anyone see them, not even her own siblings! So, this was and amazing opportunity I didn't want to miss.
Needless to say, my response was an emphatic, "I'll be there as soon as I can!"
At the time, I was in Jackson and I needed to get to Detroit, only about a 50 mile trip.
Sounds easy enough, right?
Well, the Genealogy Gods had a big surprise up their sleeves waiting for me.
It was going to be an eventful drive and I was about to be tested like I'd never been tested before!
I got going and for the first 20 miles, I was cruising right along. Absolutely no problems. Completely smooth sailing.
The Calm Before The Storm
But then it hit!
It started to rain . . .
And then the temperature dropped like a rock . . .
Before I knew it, the roads had completely froze up from freezing rain.
It was an ice skating ring and I wasn't a Zamboni!
Traffic was at an absolute crawl.
At first it was 25 mph, and then it was 20!
I should've canned it right then and there, but I really didn't want to miss out on this incredible opportunity.
So, I pressed on.
Using the driving skills I'd learned from being a born and raised Alaskan, I didn't panic and worked really hard at "keeping my britches between the ditches". Did I mention that I had pretty much bald tires, too, which added to the fun?
As I got closer to Detroit, the roads got even worse.
We were finally down to 12 mph.
And that maximum speed was absolute!
Anyone daring to go 13 mph or more was spinning out, right in front of my eyes and going straight into the ditch.
The carnage was epic as I saw at least a dozen cars wipe out. It was nuts!
Not Quite This Bad, But It Sure FELT Like It Was!
Three and a half hours, I finally arrived.
Exhausted from the adrenaline rush, but also ecstatic at the same time, Mary got the pictures out for me.
The Genealogy Gods seemed to have appreciated my perseverance and boldness (and yes, I admit, even a little stupidity) because it was an absolute treasure trove.
I ended up taking pictures and scans of them well into the wee hours of the morning before we all finally collapsed.
What a night!
If this is the kind of perseverance you'd like to see in your Professional Genealogist, I'd love to hear from you!
Drop me a line or give me a call and I'll get started on it as soon as I can.
danny@hallgen.com
(888) 444-3211
Photo Credits:
Peter Infelt and Nellie Hebbring - Danny Hall
Frames - pngegg.com - Thank You!
Sail Boat - Geralt, Pixabay - Thank You!
Cars - Peggy_Marco, Pixabay - Thank You!
