This post is in memory of my dad. Today would have been his 76th birthday. Growing up, he certainly wasn't the best of fathers and we didn't have the best of times. There were some good times and some bad ones. Through all this, he was my dad and I loved him. I was 10 when my mom and dad divorced. After that, he kinda slid out of the picture. I really wish that things could've been different but it wasn't meant to be. I love my mom to death and I don't know what I would do without her, but I always wondered what it would've been like to have a real dad like everyone else. I'm so glad that Ben will get to grow up with a dad who loves him so much. Dad died in 2002 and it took me a long time to make peace with that and him. I still miss him.
One thing I'd like to credit him with is my love of genealogy. After he died, we were given a huge book of family research that he had done. I started to pick up where he had left off and had the time of my life. I've now researched all of mom's side of the family (this includes Grammy of course, or Meme as most people called her). I've done quite a bit on my dad's side too. A couple years ago my mom and I went to Massachusetts to visit gravestones~ my dad's, Lee Jr.'s, dad's mom, brother and sisters. We also went to North Reading where I found gravestones of ancestors from the 1700 and 1800s. It was really cool to be able to connect with something so long ago. On my dad's side, we're related to John Proctor who was hanged during the Salem Witch trials. On Grammy's side, we're very distantly related to Madonna and Celine Dion. Who knew? So if you're related to me and ever need to know anything about the family, just let me know.
