Search Results for: blog looking for my father

Are You Looking For A Fascinating Genealogy Read?

The weather is starting to get chilly and wet, and there are fewer and fewer nice days to go play outside. While you may think that this is a great time to put in some additional hours of genealogy research, it is also a great time to find yourself an interesting genealogy – themed book to read just for the fun of it. If you are looking for an interesting diversion from researching and learning new techniques and strategies, then you may want to check out “Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA” by Richard … Continue reading →

Last-Minute Father’s Day Scrapbooking

Time is running out for all of you slow scrappers. If you are looking to craft a memory book to gift to your Dad this Father’s Day, you can’t afford to procrastinate any longer. By now you should have all of your materials together, including the album, paper, embellishments, photos and mementos. To further expedite the construction process, it’s a good idea to have some general notes or sketches detailing how you want your finished layouts to look and what order you plan to display your page designs. When it comes to piecing together layouts, I typically work off of … Continue reading →

Why I Thought My Grandma Didn’t Love Me

It’s funny how years and maturity can change your view of things from your childhood. I know all memories are colored by time and usually we have a rosier view of the past than we did at the time but sometimes, it’s warranted. My father died when I was a toddler so every summer I got to spend a week or two with my father’s mother, Grandma D. My father’s family all lived out of state so we didn’t see them on a regular basis. I remember as a child feeling unloved by my grandmother and one of the reasons … Continue reading →

The Subjective Experience of Being a Father

What does it mean to be a father? How do I “be” a father? What does a father “do?” What does being a dad mean to you? Like my Scandinavian ancestors and relatives, I like to tease and joke with my children. I get the better part of the relationship, though. They have a funnier sense of humor than I do. But they know their father cares and interacts with them, and sometimes they even laugh at my jokes and teasing. Of course being a father is more than just horsing around. We go to work daily, if we can, … Continue reading →

Lemon Pepper In My Eye

When I tried to go to sleep last night, my hungriest child requested food. Because I grew up being hungry all the time, even though my parents weren’t direly poverty-stricken, I let him. An interesting dialogue resulted: “Dad, there’s nothing to eat!” “You’ve got chicken in one crockpot and beef in the other. Just put some lemon pepper on it. That makes everything taste good…” Suddenly, I sense someone standing over me. I roll over and find myself looking up, eyeball to bag of lemon pepper. Small bits of lemon flavoring and pepper fall off the bag, going into my … Continue reading →

Looking For My Father

When I was twenty-seven, I decided to come to Utah to find my biological father. It wasn’t difficult to locate him, and he seemed genuinely glad to be reunited with me. It was a strange, bittersweet experience. As I met his other children, I got to be around people who looked like me and had similar talents and intellects for once. As my father and I interacted, I slowly began to understand why my parents were not able to stay together. The problems went far beyond incompatibility. They were incapable of being there for each other. They each had severe … Continue reading →

I’m Going to Be a Father?

When my wife, Tristi, told me she was expecting, I have to admit, I wasn’t very positive at first. I had been fired my job ten days before getting married, which was about two months before this, and had no way to support my family. I’d been looking for work ever since. We had moved to a tiny attic apartment close to the place of work that had laid me off, and we then had to pay for additional gas in order to get to other jobs. I didn’t realize this was an opportunity to make good the mistakes my … Continue reading →

What Did My Fathers Teach Me?

What did my fathers teach me? Well, because they were human, they taught me both positive and negative things. It pays to break down what they taught me. Of course, my fifteen years of fathering imparts a few lessons, as well. Here are the lessons, positive and negative mingled: From my biological father – if you have lost your children, for any reason, don’t give up looking for them until you find them. Be ready to respect their differences of opinion – especially if you are very opinionated yourself and/or are from a family of strongly opinionated people. From my … Continue reading →

Jeremy Bender vs. the Cupcake Cadets

When we watch the Sound of Music she sings Frederick’s part. When we watch The Magic School Bus she pretends she is Ralphie. She’s Miguel instead of Maya, Gil instead of Molly and Dash instead of Mags. So when my 6-year-old daughter read the back of Jeremy Bender vs. the Cupcake Cadets, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that she was instantly intrigued. “This boy wants to be a girl just like I like pretending I’m a boy,” my lizard king-loving female offspring exclaimed. And so began my first grader’s newest adventure in chapter book reading and another chapter in … Continue reading →

Solving A Family Mystery With Kim Cattrall

While I do not have television, I sometimes go online and watch shows that I really want to see. I’ve been looking forward to this season of “Who Do You Think You Are” because one of my favorite actresses, Kim Cattrall, has her own episode this season. Kim is a British-born actress who grew up in Canada. She is best known for her work playing the role of sassy, independent Samantha Jones on Sex and the City. I went online today to watch Kim’s episode of “Who Do You Think You Are” and I’m really glad that I did. In … Continue reading →