A family from
A family from Indianapolis was able to spend time in their childhood home on a vacation thanks to a meaningful and random connection with a stranger.
Debbie Combs, a resident of Connecticut for 40 years, is originally from Geneva, NY.
After obtaining a bag of photographs from her late uncle, Jack Long, she found a photo of a little girl nobody could name.
Using the information written on the photograph, she searched for the name Jean Roembke with a 1920s birthday; the photo was dated for 1923.
After reaching out to the person running the Roembke Family Reunion Facebook, she was put in contact with Mary Arnold Houser, Jean Roembke’s daughter.
After exchanging stories and photos, Combs recognized her Uncle Jack’s house.
It turned out that Houser’s father, William Arnold of Naples, built the house and raised his children with his wife, Jean, in it until Jean returned to Indiana without William.
Houser didn’t see her father for twenty years, but visited him as an adult. Jack Long had invited her and her brother, Jim Arnold, to look around when they drove past at one point.
It turned out that Long’s family is renting the house out for summer vacations, and Houser and her family were able to spend a week in their childhood home.
Combs and Houser were finally able to meet after months of talking in July.
was able to spend time in their childhood home on a vacation thanks to a meaningful and random connection with a stranger.
Debbie Combs, a resident of Connecticut for 40 years, is originally from Geneva, NY.
After obtaining a bag of photographs from her late uncle, Jack Long, she found a photo of a little girl nobody could name.
Using the information written on the photograph, she searched for the name Jean Roembke with a 1920s birthday; the photo was dated for 1923.
After reaching out to the person running the Roembke Family Reunion Facebook, she was put in contact with Mary Arnold Houser, Jean Roembke’s daughter.
After exchanging stories and photos, Combs recognized her Uncle Jack’s house.
It turned out that Houser’s father, William Arnold of Naples, built the house and raised his children with his wife, Jean, in it until Jean returned to Indiana without William.
Houser didn’t see her father for twenty years, but visited him as an adult. Jack Long had invited her and her brother, Jim Arnold, to look around when they drove past at one point.
It turned out that Long’s family is renting the house out for summer vacations, and Houser and her family were able to spend a week in their childhood home.
Combs and Houser were finally able to meet after months of talking in July.
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