By Lucius M. Monkey

My earliest memories are of the train wreck. It was a dark winter night. My family and I were traveling from Marrakesh, my birthplace, to the coast before sailing on to Cape Town to perform for the season in the Boswell Wilkie Circus. I was too young to perform, but my father, mother (although pregnant) and elder sister Cleo were excited to be on stage again. I regret that I only knew my mother and father by those terms, I had not yet learned their real names.

The unusually sharp turn of the locomotive and the sound of tortured metal crying out woke me from slumber. A greasy metallic smell filled the air as I felt our car begin to tip to the side. I slid across the rough boarded floor and must have hit my head and been rendered unconscious. When I awoke, it was daylight and my minor wounds had been tended to by a kindly old man.

I learned from my new friend that he had found me near the train wreckage and had taken me home so that I could heal. After questioning him, he told me that he had not seen any other sock monkeys in the wreckage, although he had searched for survivors. I prayed that my family had survived and were safe. As I grew, I attempted in vain to find my family. They had never made it to Cape Town, as far as anyone knew. Other leads proved fruitless and frustrating. In the meantime, I stayed with Javier and he employed me as his assistant in his musical street show.

Sorrow again paid me a visit when Javier died, and I again found myself alone. I decided to go to the New World to start fresh. Upon my arrival in the U.S., I settled on the East Coast where I had made some close friends. It is only now that I have access to such a broad array of information and technology that I have had any concrete success at reclaiming my natural family. To date, I have uncovered two younger brothers, Sirus and Augustus, which proves that at least my parents survived the accident and had more children, although I know nothing more of my sister. As fate would have it, my brothers also met with tragic separation from our parents and, thus, much of our family history remains shrouded.

With the aid of modern technology and the ancient and mystical art of scrying, I hope in the future to locate more of my family and my origins. My hopes and efforts have been set aflame by my recent genealogical discoveries. Below, I have constructed the meager remnants of my family tree as I have uncovered it.

3/2001: Callooh! Callay! I have happened upon my lost cousin Septimus. Not only am I overjoyed to have found him, but he has brought me more boughs from our tree, including the names of my mother, grandparents and aunt and uncle.

3/2002: After a tip from Bob and some extra research, I now believe that this young sock monkey is my sister Cleo. However, at the verge of contact, she was pulled out of my reach. I believe she now resides in Germany, and I will continue my search to find her. Also, after some hard work, I have found a picture of my father. Although I still do not know his real name, I do know that the family he lived with in his old age called him Mr. Juby.

4/2003: The research endeavors on my father's side of the family have indeed been fruitful. Most importantly of all, it has lead me to my cousin Ignatius, an adventuresome and mischievous sock monkey! Since our meeting, Iggy, as he is known, has agreed to become the warder of Joel and Donna's baby, Moxie, of whom I have become greatly fond. As many of you know, Joel and Donna are the friends with whom I live. Therefore, I believe my cousin and I will be seeing quite a bit of one another. Also, Iggy has brought me a wealth of family history. As you can see from the chart below, Ignatius is my cousin on my father's side. As it turns out, my father, Jubal, had four siblings, two brothers and two sisters. The brothers, Ramiro and Ramsis, were twins. While Iggy does not know what happened to my father or the two sisters, the twins kept in close contact and, thus, he knows that Ramsis married a young sock monkey from the New World and that they produced two children, Anoki and Olathe. Perhaps one day soon I will be able to meet these other two cousins!

7/2003: My new friend Ollie George from the Red Heel Monkey Shelter contacted me to tell me that he knew my father, Mr. Juby. Ollie explained to me that my father "was a dear chap, and he could tell the funniest jokes! That photo you have of him on your site brought a tear to my eye." I could not be more excited by this revelation, nor can I wait to talk further with Ollie and hear more stories about my father!

4/2006: I have the most tremendous news!  Just in time to keep an eye on Donna and Joel's new son Sprite, Oliver, the son of my father's youngest sister has strolled into our lives. He will being staying with us here at Withywindle.  How exciting that we three cousins:  Iggy, Ollie and myself, will be living under the same roof along with our adopted siblings Jacques Cat, Lucy and that rapscallion baby Sockzilla.  Add to that contingent the family members I have previously discovered, my dear friends Donna and Joel and their two lovably mischievous offspring, and I finally feel that I have regained, or at least regenerated, my family and my home.