Blogging has its drawbacks, but mostly it has its perks. Among the latter friendships are formed and we meet people we are not soon to forget.
Catherine’s Gravatar
This week has brought very sad news for many people. Last Sunday Catherine Crout-Habel passed away after illness. Some of you knew her, but for those of you who didn’t…Catherine, admin at Seeking Susan ~ Meeting Marie ~ Finding Family, was a super person with a great sense of humor. It was two years ago we made each other’s acquaintance and quickly formed a friendship. What privilege it was to know her.
Catherine’s love for history and genealogy was as infectious as her humor. She labored tirelessly in an effort to preserve history in South Australia where graves are being recycled. Even in the face of opposition she stood strong and never wavered. When people got her down with pettiness Catherine would bounce back with a laugh; pity parties weren’t her thing. All through that she always found time to offer words of encouragement to other bloggers and leave cheery comments. She made it a joy to publish new posts at Map of Time and I could always count on her for a thought-provoking comment followed by good-natured banter.
Whenever I had an absurd question Catherine would patiently answer it and – if I needed more information – put me in contact with someone who could give a detailed answer. Ah the fun we had with genealogy as we both utilized our sources to come to a conclusion. She was always prepared to lend a helping hand to people. How much I long for the discussions of cultural differences that she, Metan and I took part in. Would that we had been able to have had one more chat of even just trivial things. Or even better gotten together and annoyed everyone around us with our penny whistles.
Catherine’s passion for history and its preservation garnered her an enormous amount of respect from people all over the world. We have lost a gem. Her passing has come as a tremendous and sad shock.
It’s hard to say goodbye, Catherine.
