Television talk shows often dramatize the reunion of family members or friends. You know the scene: touching stories, emotional hugs, an abundance of tears.

The reunited families have similar stories. They searched for years and had given up hope of finding their parent, child or sibling. The impression is that finding a long-lost family member is nearly impossible unless you're a private investigator or specialist in locating persons.

But you don't have to be Sam Spade or V.I. Warshawski to track down lost pieces of your past. Finding someone can be difficult, but in most cases, you can do it yourself with some patience and tenacity. You can be your own detective and find a classmate, military buddy, first love or missing relative.

Beginning your search
The first step is to write down everything you know about the person you want to locate. And I mean everything. Every detail is important and can make a difference in your research. Use this checklist to jog your memory:

• What's their full name, including middle name and nickname?

• What's their approximate age or, better yet, their exact birth date? If you don't have the exact date, maybe you know the birthday, such as January 10, or even just the month.

• Where were they born?

• When did you see them last? Think hard about the date, as we often miscalculate the number of years.

• What's their last known address (include date) or telephone number?

• Who are their parents or siblings and where did they live?

• Where did they go to high school and/or college? Did they graduate?

• Who did they marry? Did they have children? Did they divorce? If so, do you have any specifics on names of spouses or children or on dates?

• Were they in the military? If so, what branch and where did they serve?

• Who were their employers, or what was their type of occupation?

Once you've compiled a list of known facts, the next step will be to fill in the blanks by researching public records. For example, you may know that the person had been married, but you can't remember the name of the spouse, nor do you know if they may have divorced. A search of the local marriage and divorce records may produce new information. If you have a last-known address, but don't know how long they stayed there, a search of city directories may produce address changes or give new employment data. Crisscross directories (arranged by street address rather than alphabetical by name of resident) will give you names of neighbors to interview.

Finding someone is an ongoing process of gathering information that provides clues to gather yet more information. The more you know about a person, the better your odds of finding them. If, for example, you are searching for John White, the odds won't be good if all you know is that all-too-common name. But if you can determine his middle name or initial, the name of his spouse, the type of employment he may have, or his age, your success rate will increase dramatically.