Fixing a lie

Wow how long does it take to fix a lie? It took me 78 years, 8 months and 15 days to fix a lie that appeared on my birth certificate. It has bugged me every since I first saw the way my mother answered the simple questions asked. She used the last name of her step-father (he never adopted her) instead of her own legal maiden name.

Today filling out a form for what will eventually go on my death certificate I fixed that! She will now always be Gertrude Ione Johnston not Cole. So there!

I loved my grandmother's second husband, but what is right is right and I hate lies with a passion. This intentional error just goes along with the fact that she said I was premature. Right! That's not what my birth certificate says. There isn't much I can do about that one.

My biological maternal grandfather died before I was born so I never had a chance to get to know him. That fact makes me very sad, but fixing the lie I fixed today makes me very happy.

I wish I had known you grandpa.

William O. Johnston 1886-1920
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