Monday, September 8, 2008

Communicating with Family!

Attached is an article by Janet Bernice Jeys which appeared in the September/October issue of Ancestry Magazine. Janet did a lovely job writing the article, and I am happy because it conveys what I feel is of great importance- remembering our personal history as well as our country's.

My father, C.P. Crosby, fought in the U.S. Army in World War II and later was a Civil War historian, and this week is his birthday. He is now on the "other" side, but I am sure he is pleased that perhaps others are inspired to set a place for their Daddy or Great-Grand Daddy to remember him at the dinner table from time to time. There will be peach cobbler at mine, and we will all be grateful to this man from rural Mississippi who made the world a better place.

I have attached the article below in case you are interested.

Believe!
Lainey

Communcating with Family
by Janet Bernice Jeys

LAINE CROSBY IS A MOM. She goes to swim meets, attends church with her family, volunteers at the elementary school, and regularly burns pizza. She lives a completely ordinary life, except for one little thing; as an investigative medium, Laine does her family research for folks who contact her from the other side.

Though her roots lie in Atlanta, these days Laine, husband Chris, and their twins live in Maryland on property where a plantation from the 1700s once stood. One afternoon Laine saw several men in the field with straw hats, white shirts and suspenders. Later that day, in the midst of a fitful nap, Laine heard a sweet, soft voice say, "I had a son the same age as yours."

"He is my son and not yours," Crosby answered, realizing she sounded a bit unbalanced.

"I know he is your son," the woman said.

Now fully awake, Laine saw the image of a beautiful dark-skinned woman. She was peaceful, composed, and her name was Jannette. Crosby's search of records eventually revealed that Jannette was a slave of plantation owner William George Robertson. A nanny to his 11 children, she died giving birth to Robertson's twins.

This was only the beginning.

Living only an hour from the Gettysburg battlefield, Crosby has visited with both Union and Confederate soldiers, men who don't want to be forgotten or who have no sense that they have died. "No one is unimportant," Crosby says. "Love binds us to the next world. God is right there and answers prayers of all people, living or dead. Prayer is more important than most of us realize."

Crosby now works on missing person cases with police and families. She also helps authors, historians, and archaeologists uncover what happened long ago in specific locations. She and her business partner appeared on the "Ghosts of Gettysburg" episode of the Travel Channel's Mysterious Journeys. They also host an Internet talk show, Ghost Talkers.

But ask Laine and she'll say that she mostly takes orders from the "other" side. She describes herself as little more than a mouthpiece, not much different from a television or radio. Says Laine, "As I experience information, I do the best I can to make sense of it, define it, and pass it on."