Gibson train station is the first stop on the grade level Far Rockaway branch after it leaves the viaduct of the Montauk and Atlantic Branches behind. It is located in Valley Stream, NY (Long Island). I spent many days as a teenager hanging out at that station. Little did I know the connection that I had with it. Inside the station there is a plaque commemorating Carrie L. Heinecke (1905-1970), the long time station agent at the station. I must have seen this plaque a hundred times. After my oldest daughter was born, I decided to seek out my biological parents. Being adopted from Florida, I had no reason to think I had any family ties to NY. My biological mother, in fact, was from Valley Stream before she moved to Florida....and....as it turned out, Carrie Heinecke was my great grandmother. It's funny how serendipitous this world can be.
