The “ah ha” moment as captured by photographer Elaine Anderson.

You never know when you’re going to experience one of those stranger-than-fiction “genealogical serendipity” moments that happen ever so often.

While speaking at the Grays Harbor Genealogical Society‘s Spring Workshop recently, professional genealogist Janet Camarata displayed an old Osborne County, Kansas land map of her ancestor Elzy Emmet Curry during her “Mapping an Ancestor” presentation. As she talked about Elzy (who married Ella Adeline Shull in 1890), Patty Olsen, Washington State Genealogical Society Region 4 representative and member of the Lewis County Genealogical Society, exclaimed, “That’s my ancestor, too!” After the initial shock, attendees witnessed the newly discovered cousins finding their common roots through Patty’s husband’s ancestor Ella Adeline, Elzy’s wife.

You never know when or where you’ll meet your long-lost cousin!