Genealogy hunting & Museum hopping

My two favorite sports have become museum hopping (these pictures are from the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art) and genealogy hunting.
When I reached Aunt Louise's house in Fort Worth (and slowed down for a while) I called Dorothy, a sister to Dean Lambert.  Dean had emailed me her phone number with the suggestion that she may know more about my father.



She did know more...that my grandfather had moved his family to Shreveport, and that a granddaughter still lived there, named JoBeverly Eddins. She also said she would try and find out how to get in touch with JoBeverly.
In only a few hours I had a call from JoBeverly and suddenly, all my questions were answered.
She told me that my father had no other children other than myself.  I also learned that he had become very ill while in prison and never fully recovered once he was released.

JoBeverly said she thought he had been badly treated while in prison including starvation, which took a toll.  She also said he was a 'wonderful person'. (Strangely enough, this is a phrase I have heard before--and more than once) but that he could not seem to stay away from trouble.  He was married and divorced a second time after prison and ended up living with his brother, Clarence, and father, Andrew, until he died at 58 years of age.  JoBeverly also said that he had so little when he died that her father, Clarence, had to go out and buy a suit for the burial.  That was sad to hear.  Now I wish I had met him before he died.

JoBeverly confirmed that I had stayed with her parents when I was only a few months old while my mother worked as a waitress to support us.  And she confirmed that my aunt and uncle had become very attached to me during that time.  Again, I regretted that I had not looked for them when they were still alive.




But I have met a cousin, (Jo Beverly),  several 2nd cousins (Dean, Terry, Dorothy) and made a lot of new friends.  So now, I feel my search is over for a while.  I plan to stay in touch with them and I hope to get back to that part of Louisiana sometime in the future to get better acquainted.  And there is always more research to do...Who was my grandmother and what is her story?