It was 3 in the morning, I was thinking of cousin Harry. I am still so sad I never got to give him that big hug in person. It ALMOST happened, and I was close to where he lived. I must say, my vacation turned not so fun, when I heard that harry had passed away.

There was a photo my Grandmother had of two twins, I never s it until she had passed away, and found it in my mothers things.  No one really knew who they were, other than they must be related to my grandma, but not even sure of that.

Fast forward, my daughter, somehow "found Harry McGowan, Jr. long story, so won't tell it all here.Harry called me, we chattered on and on....and on. I mentioned these twins....it's good I was sitting down, he said one of the twins was his grandmother!!!! 

He had no idea anyone was alive anymoe from that part of the family, and I was sure no one EVER heard of Sadie and Sila. Turns out, I even had pictures of Harry's dad, and his dad's sister!! My mother DID know Lillian and her 3 boys. They even came to our house to visit!! 

My Grandfather who worked for the Erie Railroad, along with some of his sons, had written diaries. My sister had them, so I borrowed them to copy every single page, never realizing I would be putting them on a disk for a cousin, I hadn't known of. I sent them to Harry, he ad them put into spirals, like a book! He was SO excited to get the diaries, and said...he was reading about his family ( and mine too...ha ha). My grandpa wrote of his every day life from when he got up, til bedtime...and LOTS of railroad info and his day at work.

I could go on and on and on, and I must say, it was like Harry and I knew each other always. We laughed a LOT and had so many fun visits on the phone. He sent me a set of Erie dishes and a big hunk of coal!! I sent him some things, lots of pictures and some Erie books etc. 

I have so many memories and things Harry sent that I cherish, but most of all I cherish finally knowing of my sweet amazing cousin. I wish I could have somehow taped his phone calls so I could hear his voice, but I can hear him in my head. 
         

I was happy to have been able to take him to this game even though he was very ill. He loved his Volley ball team.

As I noted in the caption, this picture was taken in November on senior night. Harry hadn't gotten to many matches last season but he certainly picked a good one. The Terps had just brushed away Indiana in straight sets for their fourth conference win of the season.

The smiles you see on the players' faces are genuine. You only have to look at how they are all leaning toward him if you want confirmation. In fact, Harry would attend practice from time to time - the last time earlier this spring -  and their smiles and greetings when they saw him were always every bit as warm. While I think it reflects on the character of the young women on the team, I think it says just as much about the man in the center of the photo, too.

Harry usually kept his emotions in check (I think that's a trait we share.) but on this night, they came quite clearly to the surface. I told Harry then that I thought the picture was a great way to cap the night and he said, "It didn't just make my night, it made my year."