The one moment that stands out for me this year happened about four months ago.   I was browsing Ancestry and typed in my great grandfather's name, ‘Percy Watkinson'. This man has been my “brickwall” over many years.  Initially he seemed to disappear in the late 1890's, with no death certificate to validate his death.  
 
Eventually, this problem was solved by a small personal announcement in Trove stating Percy Watkinson had died in Paris, France on January 7, 1907. 
 
So now I just needed to get a death certificate to authenticate it was the man I was seeking.  I assumed this would just be a matter of contacting the French Births, Deaths and Marriages, paying some money and “Voila”, there it would be.
 
The discovery of Percy’s death whereabouts occurred in 2013. The intervening years have been an education as well as a test of patience. When a person dies in Paris the death is registered at the City Hall of the Arrondissement where the death occurs. I had no way of finding out this information as all the people who may have known were deceased.  
 
So, once again, I put Percy to one side and tried to forget about him.
 
However, from time to time I would type Percy’s name and search in Ancestry or Trove. It seemed to be a hopeless task until this last year, when someone else's family tree popped up and there he was.  But was it him?
 
There were the same parents, but his birthplace was a different country, even though his siblings were born in Germany.  I followed it up and there was a place of death. The date of death was the same and the address was in the Tenth Arrondissement.
 
Armed with this information, I wrote a letter to the City Hall and requested a death certificate, including a stamped self-addressed envelope.  Please note that there was no cost involved.
 
I waited for between six to eight weeks, with frequent trips to our mail box, much to the amusement of my husband. Eventually the envelope arrived and there it was. Now I had positive proof that the certificate was for my man. To add to my joy, one of my fellow classmates in Family Research had found the cemetery where he is buried. 
 
My next trip to Paris will involve a visit to Percy’s grave, but also a visit to the City Hall with a packet of Tim Tams to show my gratitude.
 
Which do you think is my “One Moment This Year”?
 
I chose the finding of his place of death, as the rest was the result of that lucky browse.
 
 
Marg McCrohan
November 2022

2021 will be remembered as COVID 19 “year two”. However, like any other year it has had its ups and downs. The moment that stands out for me was when I got a phone call from our son, Declan, to say he was safely in Sydney. He had been given a seat on a repatriation flight from Bangkok. The relief and joy of knowing he was now in the same country was unbelievable. He still had two weeks of quarantine in Sydney to face before we could catch up, but that was just a blip when compared with the months he had spent trying to get back to Australia.

His original flight in May 2020 was cancelled and so began the tortuous process of  booking flights and then being notified of cancellations. In fact, he was about to give up trying to get to Australia and was in the process of returning to Dubai when he was informed about the possibility of repatriation flights being commenced from Bangkok.  He informed his father but suggested it be a secret from me for the time being. He was hoping to arrive back, do his quarantine and turn up as my birthday surprise. Unfortunately, he missed out on the first flight but was in quarantine in Sydney for my birthday- the best present possible.

Declan has spent the last sixteen years working in the Middle East as a University lecturer. When he's not working, he spends time in Thailand and visits us regularly, but Covid19 restrictions impacted his ability to visit us and of course, we could not leave Australia. Normally I am not worried about his wellbeing, but these last two years have put a different slant on things. Prior to this pandemic I was confident that we could visit him if needed and vice versa.

Declan is remaining in Australia at present.  I am enjoying the fact that all our children are presently in the same state and just a two to three hour drive away.

I know this will not last as he will return to Dubai to work when Universities resume face to face teaching.

Whether life will ever return to normal remains to be seen, but at the moment I am 
                    
"Carpe Diem".



​Marg McCrohan
​February 2022