Bon Jour

There’s a little joke in my house. You remember the TV commercial where the girl says she has a blind date with a French model she met on the internet? This very not-French, probably-not-a-model dude shows up and greets her with a strongly American sounding “Bon Jour.” Bon Jour has become our phrase at home for don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

I get excited when I find stuff on the internet so it is hard to remember I can’t trust everything I read. I’m a sucker for things in print and sometimes I have to force myself to slow down and find out more.

Overjoyed to find this picture I quickly showed it to my husband:

I said, look Husband! I found a picture of your grandfather. He looked the photo over really well and responded with, “That’s not him.” What do you mean, it isn’t him? The newspaper clipping doesn’t lie! There’s his name, right there! But then I got to looking at the photo, too. I had never met the man my husband called Papaw, but I have pictures of him and my husband favors him quite a lot. Either of these guys? Not so much.

So I then showed the photo to my husband’s uncle. He confirmed my husband’s thoughts- the man in the photo was not Papaw. Yes, that was his name listed, but the photo was not of him. Papaw was a Sheriff but the man pictured was one of the bailiffs or another deputy.

What to do with the photo as far as my family tree? I kept it and I even linked it to my husband’s Papaw with good, detailed notes attached. Papaw was probably involved with the case in some manner he just wasn’t in this photo. Lessons learned? You can’t believe everything you read (Bon Jour!) and sometimes it pays to have other people confirm your findings.