Are You Serious?

I’m assembling a Family History Book for “my” Dad. It contains photos and histories of his four-generations. On the title page of each generation, I have photos of where my grandparents came from. Right now I’m working on the title page for Martin Slack Sr. and Eliza Ann Jeffries. They are my great-great-grandparents and emigrated from England to the United States in 1855. They were both born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. As I was looking for photos on the Internet, I saw a photo with the description “Oak located in Sherwood Forest (Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England).”

My memory immediately traveled back to August 1997 when Dad and I were vacationing in England. We were driving north to Scotland from London. As we were driving on the highway, I saw a sign that read “Sherwood Forest.” “Hey,” I said, “Let’s stop and see Sherwood Forest.” Of course I was thinking of the Robin Hood folklore. But Dad didn’t want any of it. He was on a mission to reach northern England by nightfall, so we continued on our journey.

So basically I drove past the town that my ancestors are from, not even realizing it. My whole life I have wanted to visit the birthplaces of my ancestors and I unwittingly drove right past one of them! Are you serious?!