Susan Saulny

had a twin back in New Orleans.

And one of the women at the table, we have the same height and body type.

I mean, it was just physically, it was a moment.

Right.

That was a revelation because I thought going into this that I had some information and I was going to be sharing it with them.

But what really happened is that

Information flowed in both directions, and I learned things about my own side that I had misunderstood.

So it was just new understanding all around.

But what I learned specifically from them is that they had inkling suspicions longstanding, and they were hoping to know more.

They were asking their parents questions that their parents wouldn't answer.

So they hit certain walls in trying to figure out,

They weren't told an accurate story, and they had a feeling it wasn't accurate, but they were at somewhat of a loss to figure it out because Edward passed away in the 70s, and a lot of the people who knew the real story weren't around anymore.

He told them that he was from New Orleans, that he was the son of a French doctor who had a relationship with someone but then had to leave for France.

And some had him coming from Montreal.

Different cousins on the Chicago side had different versions of the story.

None of it fit together to make any kind of

That's what it had in common across the many cousins.

They knew there was some connection to New Orleans.

And Christine, one of Edward's grandchildren in my generation, she actually tried to reach out sometime around Hurricane Katrina.

But she had an uncle who was disapproving of this connection who shut that down.