I don't know why I'm writing this entry. Admitting a character flaw to the world (or rather, the 40 or so of you in the world who read this).

But here it is.

I'm easily obsessed with women. Beautiful women. And yes, they tend to resemble the woman I love. The brunette, dark Irish look. A taste she and I agree I acquired after meeting her, as my romantic interests prior to that time did not follow that pattern. But that is just a general trend. I find myself infatuated with redheads easily, and sometimes even blondes. And women of other races will also spark my interest.

I sometimes seem to find beauty where others don't: it's almost always something in the face...

So, I have a new obsession. Her name is Mary E. Orr, from Nebraska.

And I can't find her. I don't even know if she's dead or alive.

But this is she:

In 1927.

The photo is from a little "school souvenir" booklet that I acquired in a local auction. Just happened to come along with the red and blue WWII ration tokens I was trying to buy. Along with a handful of other school memorabilia from a long life that is now ended. These end-of-the-year school souvenir booklets, which list all the class pupils and administrators for that year, were apparently quite common in the middle of the US in the earlier part of the last century. And yeah, I had to digitally touch up the image in a few places, for some old rips and holes.

Mary E. Orr was the teacher, with this booklet apparently coming from the estate of one of her students. From what I've seen, it was common to glue the teacher's photograph on the front of the booklet. She taught 25 pupils, spanning grades First through Eighth, in the Goldenrod School, District No. 26, Township 15, Keith County, Nebraska. A rural school, there were a lot of brothers and sisters in her class.

Just look at her face. Look at those eyes. The wisdom at such a young age. You can see her compassion, in a photograph of all things. And yes, lips that could easily be made to smile. If a barnstormer came through town offering air rides, I believe she would take one.

The wife was cleaning out a bunch of our auction wins, and found the little bag that contained this souvenir. And since then, I have been back into the genealogy databases online, trying to find Mary. Without any success. So far. Not that there isn't any record of a Mary Orr, but because there are so many.

And no, she's no kin to me, that I know of.

I found one Mary E. Orr of roughly the right age, from one of the nearby "I" states (you know, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana... they're all just labels on a map to me). I hope she wasn't this Mary, because that Mary E. Orr died in 1934. I would hate to think this striking young woman only lasted seven years after this photograph.

Instead, I hope that she married and traveled, and had lots of kids. And that somewhere, out there, are grandchildren or great-grandchildren or even great-great-grandchildren of Mary E. Orr still walking the planet. Carrying on the genes that made the woman in this photograph.

I've checked on ebay. These little school souvenir books are collectable. Looking at past sales, I would have a fair chance of recouping my costs on this auction lot with this little notebook alone. But I don't want to sell it. I want to find the heirs of Mary E. Orr, of Keith County, Nebraska. If they're out there, they should have this photograph.

They say when you die, you aren't really gone so long as someone remembers you.

It bothers me to think I might have the only photograph of Mary E. Orr on the planet. That right now, I might be the only person who knows she was here. A woman like that should not be forgotten.

But now you know her, too.