Sunday, September 05, 2004
How This Blog Came To Be.
Over five years ago, I was talking to my sister Mary Stollenwerck Lynch on the phone. Mary is seven years older than I. She said,” Did you know there's another Stollenwerck in Greenwich?" Mary still lives there.
"No," I said. "Where?"
"In Byram," she said. Byram is a section of town down by the Long Island Sound.
"Have you ever met him?" I said. I assumed it was a guy.
"No."
"Have you ever called him?"
"No." she said. "No reason to."
"Oh." I said. "How'd you find out he's there?" Why would she be looking up the name Stollenwerck?.
"Someone else found him. One of my friends...can't remember who."
I made a mental note to look the name up myself. It's been a long time since Mary used the name Stollenwerck.
So I went onto the internet to do a search. Up popped Stollenwerck, J., Greenwich, CT. with the phone number. I called and I think I left a message. It went something like this, "Hi, my name is Jamie Stollenwerck and you don't know me. I live in Rhode Island and my sister Mary, who lives in Greenwich, said your name is in the book. I thought I'd call because we share this unusual name and we must be related. Here's my phone number. Give me a call if you want to. I understand if you don't. Our family is from Greenwich originally. We don't know any other Stollenwercks and would like to find out about you." And I left my number and hung up.
Within a day, the phone rang and someone asked for me. He said, "Hi, this is Jeff Stollenwerck. You called and left a message on my machine."
I said, "Hello, Jeff. You are the man. Thanks for calling back. Who are you?"
Jeff said, "Well, I'm from Texas and I've got a job in Greenwich. I do financial analysis."
I said,” Jeff, I know this sounds crazy but we were raised in Greenwich and everyone there knows us. But we never heard of you what with the last name of Stollenwerck and all."
"That's because I got out of school not too long ago and haven't lived here long." It occurred to me Mary was the only one left in town and her married name is Lynch. Even if Jeff looked up Stollenwerck in the book, he wouldn't have found it.
"Jeff, how old are you," I said. I can't remember what he told me other than it registered he was in his late twenties. Based on this I said, "Jeff, I figure your father is my brother Dick's age and I'm five years younger than he."
Jeff and I talked a little bit about our families...who was where and how old...and it soon became time to end the call. We exchanged email addresses and said So Long. I emailed him and said how great it was to talk with him and he forwarded it to his father. His message read, "I think you should know about this," and his father replied with a few salutations. After that, we lost contact.
Five years or so went by. Then last spring my phone rang.
"Hi, it's Jeff Stollenwerck. Remember we talked with each other a bunch of years ago?"
"Sure, Jeff," I said, "What a pleasant surprise to hear from you. What’s up?"
"I'm here in Watch Hill with my new wife Allyson. I wasn't married when I talked to you before. We live in Westport now and are up here sightseeing and I thought I'd give you a call."
He had my full attention. "Jeff, where exactly in Watch Hill are you?" I wanted to have him over to our house.
"I'm at the end of your driveway."
I looked out the window and a Range Rover was parked by the mailbox. I told him to get on in here.
So Jeff and Allyson visited with Debbie and me for a while. Fun! I showed them around our house, which has many pictures and paintings of various Stollenwercks. They said they could see the family resemblance and I bet it meant something to be able to put a name with a face. It did to me. That visit goes beyond the scope of this blog, except to say Allyson remarked about what it was like to marry into a family with Stollenwerck for a last name. My hope is Jeff and Allyson join in on this website and will write their own account of what it was like to meet an alien Stollenwerck.
By coincidence I was at a cocktail party during the summer and on my way out I was introduced to a woman who asked me if I was from Dallas. I said no, why? She said,"I'm from Dallas and I grew up across the street from Ruth Stollenwerck. I was walking today and I saw your name on a sign in front of your house. I didn't know if you were from Texas or what."
When it rains it pours.
After that, I began thinking of a way all Stollenwercks could get in touch with each other...if they want to. Jeff has met Samantha and Adriane at one of Samantha's performances in New York. Samantha's a musician. Jeff's parents are coming east at the end of October and we've been invited to meet them. I began to think about putting up a Stollenwerck website but never got around to it.
Then I was installing a Google tool bar on my browser and one of the options is "Blog This!" I followed the links and discovered the perfect way to start building the Stollenwerck family tree millennium style. My idea is to get enough content on this blog from the Stollenwercks in my immediate family. After that, I'm going to search for all the Stollenwercks with email addresses and invite them to submit information for postings. The format will be a photo blog, which means each posting will have a picture attached...at least as much as possible. It could be great. It could be a bust. Call me irresponsible, call me irresistible...
That's it. Background. Raison d'Etre. Strategy for the future. Whatever. I've got many ideas about what to put on this blog...but to start with, I need contact from family members with their story, pictures and so forth. Please send me news of any kind to post so other Stollenwercks will read them and be inspired to take part.
Be A Part Of Stollenwerck Mania.
Posted by Jamie Stollenwerck
¶ 2:50 PM
"No," I said. "Where?"
"In Byram," she said. Byram is a section of town down by the Long Island Sound.
"Have you ever met him?" I said. I assumed it was a guy.
"No."
"Have you ever called him?"
"No." she said. "No reason to."
"Oh." I said. "How'd you find out he's there?" Why would she be looking up the name Stollenwerck?.
"Someone else found him. One of my friends...can't remember who."
I made a mental note to look the name up myself. It's been a long time since Mary used the name Stollenwerck.
So I went onto the internet to do a search. Up popped Stollenwerck, J., Greenwich, CT. with the phone number. I called and I think I left a message. It went something like this, "Hi, my name is Jamie Stollenwerck and you don't know me. I live in Rhode Island and my sister Mary, who lives in Greenwich, said your name is in the book. I thought I'd call because we share this unusual name and we must be related. Here's my phone number. Give me a call if you want to. I understand if you don't. Our family is from Greenwich originally. We don't know any other Stollenwercks and would like to find out about you." And I left my number and hung up.
Within a day, the phone rang and someone asked for me. He said, "Hi, this is Jeff Stollenwerck. You called and left a message on my machine."
I said, "Hello, Jeff. You are the man. Thanks for calling back. Who are you?"
Jeff said, "Well, I'm from Texas and I've got a job in Greenwich. I do financial analysis."
I said,” Jeff, I know this sounds crazy but we were raised in Greenwich and everyone there knows us. But we never heard of you what with the last name of Stollenwerck and all."
"That's because I got out of school not too long ago and haven't lived here long." It occurred to me Mary was the only one left in town and her married name is Lynch. Even if Jeff looked up Stollenwerck in the book, he wouldn't have found it.
"Jeff, how old are you," I said. I can't remember what he told me other than it registered he was in his late twenties. Based on this I said, "Jeff, I figure your father is my brother Dick's age and I'm five years younger than he."
Jeff and I talked a little bit about our families...who was where and how old...and it soon became time to end the call. We exchanged email addresses and said So Long. I emailed him and said how great it was to talk with him and he forwarded it to his father. His message read, "I think you should know about this," and his father replied with a few salutations. After that, we lost contact.
Five years or so went by. Then last spring my phone rang.
"Hi, it's Jeff Stollenwerck. Remember we talked with each other a bunch of years ago?"
"Sure, Jeff," I said, "What a pleasant surprise to hear from you. What’s up?"
"I'm here in Watch Hill with my new wife Allyson. I wasn't married when I talked to you before. We live in Westport now and are up here sightseeing and I thought I'd give you a call."
He had my full attention. "Jeff, where exactly in Watch Hill are you?" I wanted to have him over to our house.
"I'm at the end of your driveway."
I looked out the window and a Range Rover was parked by the mailbox. I told him to get on in here.
So Jeff and Allyson visited with Debbie and me for a while. Fun! I showed them around our house, which has many pictures and paintings of various Stollenwercks. They said they could see the family resemblance and I bet it meant something to be able to put a name with a face. It did to me. That visit goes beyond the scope of this blog, except to say Allyson remarked about what it was like to marry into a family with Stollenwerck for a last name. My hope is Jeff and Allyson join in on this website and will write their own account of what it was like to meet an alien Stollenwerck.
By coincidence I was at a cocktail party during the summer and on my way out I was introduced to a woman who asked me if I was from Dallas. I said no, why? She said,"I'm from Dallas and I grew up across the street from Ruth Stollenwerck. I was walking today and I saw your name on a sign in front of your house. I didn't know if you were from Texas or what."
When it rains it pours.
After that, I began thinking of a way all Stollenwercks could get in touch with each other...if they want to. Jeff has met Samantha and Adriane at one of Samantha's performances in New York. Samantha's a musician. Jeff's parents are coming east at the end of October and we've been invited to meet them. I began to think about putting up a Stollenwerck website but never got around to it.
Then I was installing a Google tool bar on my browser and one of the options is "Blog This!" I followed the links and discovered the perfect way to start building the Stollenwerck family tree millennium style. My idea is to get enough content on this blog from the Stollenwercks in my immediate family. After that, I'm going to search for all the Stollenwercks with email addresses and invite them to submit information for postings. The format will be a photo blog, which means each posting will have a picture attached...at least as much as possible. It could be great. It could be a bust. Call me irresponsible, call me irresistible...
That's it. Background. Raison d'Etre. Strategy for the future. Whatever. I've got many ideas about what to put on this blog...but to start with, I need contact from family members with their story, pictures and so forth. Please send me news of any kind to post so other Stollenwercks will read them and be inspired to take part.
Be A Part Of Stollenwerck Mania.
Posted by Jamie Stollenwerck
¶ 2:50 PM
