Treasure Chest Thursday ~ A Father's Gift

My father loved to talk about our family history as well as the history of our small village and parish.  What a memory he had!  As a young girl, I loved listening to his stories.  I never thought to take notes.  I was, however, blessed to have a memory almost as good as his.  

Over the years, several attempts were made to create our family tree on paper.  The double cousins and such created a few obstacles; preventing him from ever accomplishing the task.  For example, my great-great grandmother's sister married my great grandfather's uncle.  Boggles the mind! 

In later years, he began recording the information on cassette tapes.  Sometimes he recorded conversations with his aunt to capture even more family history.  Other tapes contain stories about the old families from the village; including dates of birth, dates of death, who married who, and the names of their children.  

These recordings provide great details on things such as the different businesses established from the 1920s through the 1940s, the locations of the best fishing and swimming holes, the games children played, and some pretty amusing stories about the local "characters" of the village. 

As I listened to these recordings, I was struck by the fact that he often paused and wondered aloud as to whether anyone would actually listen to his tapes.  Would anyone really care or realize the importance of remembering the history of our community and those who had gone before us?

My father passed from this life in 2002.  The recordings he left behind are true treasures.  I created this blog in an effort to capture and share the history that he so loved. 

Rest in peace, Bruce.  And know that I listened.

My father holding my daughter, 1990

Portions of this post are cross-posted at Photos and Footnotes and Pathway to Remembrance.