October 23rd - Who's Your Daddy?

We have all heard that slang saying " Who's Your Daddy? " It was a song by Toby Keith, it is a meme with the Star Wars films, and for genealogists and family historians, it is a question we ask and answer about everyone in our Legacy family file!

Since we discussed moms yesterday, it seems only fair that we give equal time to the dads, daddys, fathers, papas, or whatever we call our fathers. Yet again I am trying to open your Legacy family file and click through to your father's entry - the family view and the individual view (oh if wishing made it so). What would I find?

Since I can't see your Legacy family file, I took a look at my own father's entries in my Legacy file. I have his birth, baptism, surname meaning, education, occupation, employment, military service, marriage, children, religious affiliation, and memberships in church and professional organizations. What am I missing?

Photo by Juliane Liebermann on Unsplash

Well for starters the funny story about my father's switch of his given and middle name when he was in school, the newspaper article about his childhood sledding accident and subsequent broken arm (and his parents' reaction), the fact that he won a city-wide pitching competition (and the cute photo), his high school sports and student government activities, his professional activities and hobbies (the family photographer), his remembrances of his father and mother, his thoughts about marriage, children and his grandchildren.

In short, my father's life story was a bit dry - sure it has the "facts" but very little meat on those bones. Over the summer I spent time with both my parents (making audio recordings and taking notes). I asked them individually about their childhood, their parents, their high school and college years, how they met and ended up married, how they would describe their children and grandchildren, what their favorite things are (colors, books, movies, television shows, places to visit, cars, homes, sports, etc.). I also asked them what they wanted for the family in the future, where they want to travel to next year, what they want to do now and in the future.

I want all the grandchildren, (future) great grandchildren, and all those extended family members to KNOW my parents (and I want to know them as people too!). If your father is still alive, make the time to sit down and ask him some questions every so often - get him to tell you stories (record them so you can simply listen and enjoy). Act the part of a well-prepared interviewer - you want to jog memories but not direct the conversation. For his childhood, I used the recent census - my dad remembered all kinds of stories about the neighbors and friends, he mapped the houses and told me about my grandparents as  parents. When I showed him the articles about his sledding accident and pitching competition, it brought back all kinds of memories - he loved seeing the newspaper stories and knowing that his name had "hits" in the newspaper archives!

If your father is not still alive, perhaps his brothers or sisters can share their stories about him with you. Perhaps your mother or your brothers or sisters can share their memories. Be sure to check out local newspapers for special interest stories, or find his school yearbooks.

Take the time to step away from the facts and gain the insight now so you can share it with future generations. Of course, this will take more than 15 minutes - but why not get started today and add to your father's life story.