Comments on: One reason why I do this

By: rachael

rachael — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:54:29 +0000

By the way, John laughed SO hard when I told him that story. It’s amazing that information like that isn’t shared more at dinner tables and family reunions.

By: rachael

rachael — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:28:10 +0000

How fun! I’m glad that you are taking the time to do all of this family history. It will benefit a lot of lives! And I’m grateful that you are taking the time to write it all out. I never met Gran, he died right after John & I met. I’ve heard some stories but this one is the best!

By: Luisa

Luisa — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:49:54 +0000

Woman, you know how to deliver a punchline. Excellent, as always.

By: Annie

Annie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:19:49 +0000

“Otherwise, Heaven is going to be kind of awkward.”

That’s brillant and true.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:48:17 +0000

My dad’s biography has been in the works now for about seven years. It was begun just after he died. The circumstances of his death were so upsetting that it was difficult to do much for a while. Many of the documents that were generated during the last couple years of his life are still difficult to read.

It wasn’t until I was in my late 20′s that I began to see him as he really was and it is not at all easy even now to find the real man underneath the myth. Some of my children use him to justify various decisions they have made. But, I know who he was well enough to recognize their rationalizations for what they are. So that is why I am writing about his life. I want his life can be the example that is true the how he lived. I still miss him.

As for how I am known. I have many journal pages for someone to glean information from.

By: Oh, so NOW it works « The Millie Blog

Oh, so NOW it works « The Millie Blog — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:03:11 +0000

[...] something new today, but would WordPressÂ let me?Â NOOOOOOO…Â I wanted to say that I have another post up at Segullah, and to beg my readers to please go over and read it.Â So, if you want to, do it.Â Â I have [...]

By: Natalie

Natalie — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:38:13 +0000

Tiffany: It’s so great when loving family members take the time to do what your aunt did. What a treasure for your family.

It IS moving. That veil gets so thin sometimes.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:29:36 +0000

Dalene, same here. I worry that that’s how my children will remember me – “She had her head in the computer monitor all the time.” That’s another reason why I’ll be writing a glowing life story about myself.

Emily: I loved “the power of naming people who are connected to me.” Seeing their names does something for me too – gives me a deeper sense of who I am, and curiosity to know more about them. Some of them, I want to know how on earth they ever got their (interesting) names.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:27:33 +0000

Knowing those two facts about your Grandpa is something more than most of us get to know.

When my great-grandfather was quite old, his daughter cared for him and took the time to ask him to tell about his life. She recorded it and bound it simply and distributed it to the family. She wrote it exactly the way he spoke and so I could picture him totally.

I think Family History is so moving!

And one more thought: I was watching History Detectives on PBS the other night and heard the story of a forger who abandoned his two-year old son in Pittsburgh. The boy was adopted and raised by a good family. Anyhow, the people in the show met the boy, now an old man and found out more about his rascally father. They presented him with information they had found. He was so touched and it really surprised me, but even if our family is less than perfect, we still hunger to know who they are.

By: Emily M

Emily M — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:10:44 +0000

I love the story of your grandpa!

I’ve been reading my husband’s grandfather’s extensive personal history. It’s well-written, funny, and full of great stories and insight into his character. I am so grateful he took the time to write it. I think, as you say, it’s important to have some say over how people remember us.

At the same time, as I have begun (just barely this year) to work on my own family history, I have seen the names of my ancestors scroll down the screen, and been impressed just by the power of naming people who are connected to me. I love the stories, and I’m excited to learn more of them as I dig deeper into family history. I’m also grateful, though, for the connection I have felt to people who are, for now, only names.