OUT OF THE BLUE

I came home from work yesterday to an email from a young woman asking for the password to access my online family tree.
I am always cautious with these requests as I don't want the tree thieves to swoop in and copy the tree in order to sell the information via CDs. I love to share the tree with family members though, no matter how far removed from my actual line.
Turns out her father is actually my first cousin. I have tried a few times through the years to locate him or his brother. All I knew was their names and where they lived as children. I had a copy of a newspaper clipping of a photograph of them with their father, my uncle, at a parade many years ago.
I have my email address out there in so many places and I am so glad I do. I have kept the same email address for years.
Have you ever tried to contact someone online only to find out that their email address is no longer in use.
Have you changed your email address? Did you update the message boards out there with your new one? What a shame it would have been had my email address been incorrect. This person would not have been able to contact me.
So go and check out what email address you have out there. You may be missing out on contact with a family member.