Share some stories from your family's history

[opticianbart]

I saw a recent thread about ancestry.com and it got me thinking. My mother is obsessed with tracing the family history. While I have always found the subject interesting, the family stories have always been far more interesting to me. And those stories are what usually get lost, often because by the time we think to care about them, the folks who know them are gone. Some of the best stories I ever heard were at a retirement community in Annapolis where I used to play the trumpet at (since I happen to like the same music that the older folks there did.) But I thought it might be fun to share some of the stories out of our family histories, I know every family out there has some. :)

I'll start with one of my favorites, from my mother's parents.


My grandfather was in medical school during WWII. At that time, if you were in medical school - congradulations! you're going to be a doctor in the army, and your 4 year degree just became a 3 year condensed program! Did I mention that we've already chosen a specialty for you? His wife was at the same school as part of the nursing program, that was in fact where they had met.

My grandfather was a pretty good looking guy, 6'6", and with him being in uniform my grandmother was convinced that every woman for miles around wanted to steal him away. Her birthday was coming up soon and she noticed that he was spending a lot of time in hushed conversations with her girlfriends, and slipping out for awhile with no explanation why. Well one day she had to go out and he didn't want to go with her, so the only way she would agree to let him stay at home in their apartment was if he let her lock him in. He agreed, and after she left he climbed out their second story window, went out and bought the supplies to make a birthday cake (that he had borrowed ration stamps from their friends to be able to get) and took everything back into the apartment through that same second story window. She was mortified when she got home and found a cake waiting for her, and she realised why he'd been sneaking around lately.

:)


Thought you all might get a kick out of that story, share some of yours!

Also for your viewing entertainment - the two folks in the story.
W Zerne.jpgBig Ed.jpg

[pseudonym]

My daddy came from waaaay back in the country. Having an indoor toilet was considered indecent because, after all what kind of decent person would do that sort of thing in the house? When he met Mama's parents, he acted as if he was meeting royalty. He tried to act as if he fit into the civilized world, but he gave himself away when he mistakenly thought the sugar bowl was an ashtray. Repeatedly he removed the cut-glass cover, flicked his ash, and replaced it:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dai...57#fbLoggedOut

He died a few short months ago. There'll never be another like him.

[SeaU2020]

Here's one from "out of the mouth of babes" that our family cracks up all the time about.
In our neighborhood we passed a house for rent (the sign was in the front yard) for about one month when one day, my 5-year-old said "now WHO would want to rent a tree?!"

You guessed it, the for rent sign was posted on the tree.

[scriptfiller]

Paternal side of the family came to America on the same boat the ancestors of President Lincoln did in 1636. John Tower and Samuel Lincoln, ancestor Tower lived to be 96!, quite an accomplishment in those days.