I've found many relatives through RootsWeb surname searches and attended a family reunion last Labor Day Weekend with my Dad, stepmother, favorite aunt, cousin, her husband and daughter, all gathering in our "root" state of West Virginia, coming from Idaho, Virginia and, Kentucky to meet my newly found "Internet relatives". This was a very special time, made more poignant, by my Father's deteriorating health and subsequent death, not long after the reunion. Dad remembered the lane where his Uncle's Bruce and Richard had lived and rekindled an acquaintance with a cousin that he had played with as a toddler, some 80 years earlier. The kindness and generosity of many participants has filled in major gaps in my family history. My most recent bit of serendipity, however, is not really RootsWeb related, but ebay coincidental. I made an on-line purchase for a basket from a seller from West Virginia. Naturally, I mentioned that my family had ties there. The seller's grandparents had the last surname as mine- Hersman and were from the same small town as my Father. We haven't determined the exact degree of cousinhood, but we are clearly kin! Thanks for opening doors- because of Rootsweb, I follow small clues.