Bernlock Holmes is Born!

I will do my very best to showcase in this particular entry a few examples of splendid sleuthing, dazzling detectivity and ingenious inquisitry.
(Perhaps I have been excessively mezmerized of late by the Modern Major General...)
The takeaway, I hope, will be the encouragement that sometimes answers we seek are hinged on asking the right questions, and following our instincts. Steve Brown used to say that the only dumb question is the one we don't ask.
Once I had my original birth certificate in my hands, the research mode was set to high speed.
I signed up for the free trial of Ancestry.com and started my family tree with what little info I had gathered to date. I began nosing around Classmates.com and sending what felt like hundreds of messages to various names I came across for her class, or the reunion committees, etc. I had two responses from the broad casting of my nets. One was from a reunion committee member who was actually a couple of years ahead of Judy, but still lived in Albert Lea. He sent me a picture of the house where she lived during high school, and contacted a friend of his at the local Historical Society. She was able to provide some very helpful information, mainly being the names of my grandparents. So I began a search with my grandfather's name, and rather quickly landed on his obituary. This provided yet more incredibly valuable information.  My grandmother had passed in 2000. I learned that Judy's married name was Forbes, which would prove incredibly helpful. The family had moved from Albert Lea MN to Hannibal MO, which was where Judy graduated HS. But, the biggest news that came from this priceless document, was that Judy had two brothers, and at the time of grandfather's death, one had previously deceased, but one was LIVING! It gave the names of both he and his wife, and two daughters, and the town where they lived at the time.  So, White Pages, you might as well be in on this too! I called the number, but there was no answer. I followed a few other links and discovered that my "aunt" (whoa) worked at a school in town.  So, of course I called the school and left a message.  The next night, I called the number I had one more time, and someone answered.  I began to explain the reason for "the craziest phone call they may ever receive", and laid out all of the information I had discovered. She verified the connections I had made, but when it came to Judy having a daughter...weeeeeellllll...she wasn't sure about that but would go talk to her husband.  So she put the phone down, and I waited...and on my end, I cannot tell you how long it actually was, but it SEEMED like for-e-ver! She (Yvonne) came back to the phone and told me that Jerry (my uncle!!) did not know anything about Judy having a baby, but that he would talk to me. He took the phone, and I explained again some of what I had uncovered. We chatted for a bit, and then I told him I would email them a copy of the birth certificate and a couple of the pictures so they could see. When we talked again, they assured me that there was no doubt I belonged to Judy, and welcomed me to the family. It was surreal. It was weird.  One question I did ask was why she had died so young. I was deeply saddened to hear that it was a suicide. Several weeks later, I was able to obtain a copy of the death certificate, and the cause was listed as self administered cyanide/carbon monoxide poisoning. There is a bit more to say about this, but that will be for a later post. Jerry, Yvonne, and I continued to communicate, and I made plans to visit them in MO, but that will also be for a later post.
After researching all I could about Judy's name, I turned to the address listed on the birth certificate. Google Earth let me know that it was within walking distance of Ohio State, so of course the assumption would be that Judy was attending school. I began trying to find old yearbooks, and eventually contacted the records department at the school. There were no records for a Judy or Judith. Hmmmmmm...what next? How about finding out who actually lived at that address? Historical Society for Columbus...and the page from the phonebook in 1966. It listed three names, one of which was Judy.  So that left two possibilities.  Back to OSU.  I was able to get a hit for both of the other occupants. One name was incredibly common, and has been somewhat difficult to track after 50 years.  The other was unusual, and through a short time period of following links, I had what I needed. A married name (CH), a phone number, and her current occupation. I started by emailing her at the college where she professored, and then left a voice mail with my contact information. Interesting to me that she taught at her alma mater, which also happened to be where Judy had obtained her chemistry degree. My guess is that they must have known each other, and then CH transferred to OSU.
One Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church, my phone rang. It was CH! I was so excited, and nervous...I just fumbled over my words.  I was speaking to someone who KNEW Judy. I wish so very much that I had taken notes that morning. She told me that Judy was a troubled soul,involved with things that she should not have been involved in, and that she needed more help than this lady was able to give her.  Part way through the year, she (CH) had moved out of the house because she was trying hard to concentrate on her graduate studies. She mentioned in passing that she thought maybe my birthfather had worked at a State Hospital in Indiana. She was certain that Judy had not even held me after she gave birth. She was glad that I had already heard about the suicide because she did not want to have to be the one to tell me. She seemed so nice, and so willing to help me. We exchanged information, and I was very excited about the prospect of actually hearing all about who Judy was as a person. I thanked her profusely, not knowing that that phone call would be the only one I would ever have with her.  Upon trying to reconnect, she emailed me to say that she did not wish to continue communication, that she had helped me all she could, and while she was sympathetic to my desire to learn more about my parents, she did not like to live in the past and wished me luck. Wow...I was crushed. I am not sure what happened back there in Columbus, or what circumstances would keep her bound and unwilling to even talk to me, but I have her picture up on my wall, and I pray that somehow, some way, God will change her heart and prompt her to pick up the phone, or send me an email. I believe she holds some much needed pieces to the puzzle.

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The third big connection was made when I researched Judy's marriage to Mr. Forbes.  He was also a professor at the same alma mater, but had moved to NM in 2004. There were a number of G Forbes, so I really had to work at this one. I knew that he was a psychologist, and as a result of one particular article that I found, I was 99.73% sure I had pinpointed the correct individual.  So, I composed a very brief email and sent it off. When the reply came back, he commended my detective skills, and began to share with me a few things about Judy, and their brief life together.  They were only married for a few years, and he let me know that Judy had been diagnosed as bipolar (manic depressive), and he believed that my grandfather had also had some issues. I tried to get my hands on medical records, but even up to this point, have had no success. Not much hope really after 50 years.
G Forbes and I emailed back and forth several times, but some of what he remembered conflicted with some of the verified information that I already had. I did ask him if there was any possibility that he could have been my biological father, and he said that it was a reasonable question, but even tonight as I go back over his email, he never actually said "NO"...hmmmmmm...