Fwd: Ancestry

Stuart 

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Drslevy@comcast.net" <drslevy@comcast.net>
Date: July 16, 2011 5:14:25 AM EDT
To: Danielle Levy <danimlevy@gmail.com>
Subject: Ancestry

Dear Danielle,

Your mom and I were so happy that you and Josh were able to get together on his birthday.  From the photo that Steven e-mailed us it looks like you were having a good time.  

Yesterday Mom and I took Bailey to the dog resort and drove to Sarasota to visit with Grandma Marilyn.  After dinner instead opf driving right back to Fort Myers like we usually do we went up to her apartment and looked at her wedding photo album containing photographs take almost 61 year ago.  Mom wanted to see the photos to give her ideas for the wedding and to have make a photo-display table at Josh's wedding.

As we thumbed through the album old memories and stories began to surface.  
Grandma was only 18 when she got married to Grampa, and there is a treasure of people present at the  wedding in the reception photos.  With the photos come the stories and memories.  The time passed by quickly while Mom/Grandma discussed family history with us.  We nearly missed the cutoff time to pick Bailey up at the dog resort.  I encouraged Grandma to label the photos and to make a genealogy tree.  She was receptive to the idea.  I thought that you would be interested in the family history.  Papa's story and the relationship he had with his mother and step-father is the stuff of which movies are made.

I would encourage you to consider visiting your Grandma, look at her albums, to ask questions and hear the stories, and perhaps help her develop an ancestry chart.  You can share your work with Josh (a special kind of wedding present for him and something that you could feel very proud of many years from now.)

No pressure from me.  It is a window of opportunity that is open now but may not be there for long.  I know how you soak up and mentally archive information about the family and I could not help but think of the times when I told you stories of my childhood to help you fall asleep.

Love,

Dad