[originaltext] My daughter and I had been searching for the origins of my gr

My daughter and I had been searching for the origins of my grandfather, Alfred Denny, for several years. We had nothing definite except that he married Minerva Ann Hamilton in Michigan in 1860.
    When I was a small child, my father had given me the address of his "Aunt Maggie," Mrs. William Rarick of Everson, Washington. She and I exchanged letters for about three years while I was still a youngster. My father died without giving any further information about his relatives.
    About eighty-five years after my correspondence with Aunt Maggie, I decided to see if I could pick up the trail and find out exactly how she fit into the family puzzle. By then I was in my nineties so I knew the odds were not on my side, but I called the telephone operator for a number of anybody by the name of Rarick in the town of Everson, Washington. She told me they have a Charles Rarick and an L. Rarick. I asked her to ring Charles, but there was no answer so I asked her to try L. Rarick.
    A woman answered and I said, "Hello, this is Carleton Denny. I am trying to locate relatives of Margaret Rarick."
    The lady on the telephone took a long breath and hesitantly said, "She was my grandmother."
    I learned that Aunt Maggie was my grandfather’s half sister. The "L" stood for Luella, who still used her maiden name. I had found my family.