Finding Sammy Davis, Jr.

Happy Family Friday!!! I thought I'd let you all know that I'm on yet another mission...Finding Sammy Davis, Jr.! For all those side eyes and eyebrows that went up, let me explain. You know how you can recall hearing something, but in that moment it doesn't really mean much until your memory recalls it? Well that's kind of what has brought me back around to this. I remember being told and overhearing conversations about being related to Sammy Davis, Jr. I guess as a child I kind of knew who Sammy Davis, Jr. was but didn't really think much of it. I remember seeing him on TV a few times, and that was about all I could tell you.

I remember my mom's aunt stating the claim of relation. She's gone and so is mom, so I kind of chalked it up to one of those "family fables". That is until I recently discovered an interesting family photo. A couple of weeks ago, I was meeting with my uncle to go through some information and photos as we're planning for our family reunion. He asked me to bring whatever photos I had so we could go through them. As I was going through my box of information, I discovered a picture; although I'm not sure if the picture was taken in my grandmother's home or her sister's home (the one who claimed the relation to Sammy Davis, Jr.). Something in the picture caught my attention. I noticed a wall that had pictures of various people in the family. As I glanced over those faces trying to see if I could recognize everyone, I noticed a face I did not expect to see - you guessed it, Sammy Davis, Jr.! This was the first piece of evidence that could lend credibility to the claim of his relation.

When I met with my uncle, I brought it up to him. He said that he knows he's a cousin but he couldn't remember the exact break down as his aunt could relay. He said that he also remembers that his aunt and Sammy would write letters to each other and exchange birthday cards and Christmas cards. "Well what happened to all of those letters and cards?" I asked. He didn't know what became of it after her passing.

So now my wheels are spinning and I'm trying to make sense of all of this. His picture wouldn't be on a wall in my relative's home with other family members if he's not part of the family, right? We will find out! Stay tuned!


Happy searching! :-)