I think there are ways of presenting history is fair and balanced. Histories should be balanced and as objective as possible. It is of little value to present Vavó Rose as a candidate for saithood unless she was Mother Theresa's clone. It is OK to sing her praises as recalled by those who knew her while noting that not everybody liked her, that some people recalled a not so pleasant Vavó Rosa when she had one too many. I have been a social worker all my life and when doing family assessments it was always imperative to ask a reporter who had only a litany of sad memories about Dad, "Can you recall anything about him that you liked, that made you smile, that you wish you had seen more of?" Conversely, when I start getting a sense that someone will soon have a parish church named in their honor, I would ask "Were there things about him that you wish he had changed, things that you wish you hadn't known or seen.?" In these cases it was powerful for the person telling the story to see the humanity of sainted Vavó Rosa, and that Dad could on rare ocassion come though in big and unnexpected ways.
________________________________ From: Pam Santos <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 4:41 PM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Writing the family history I agree Debbie and that is why I don't drink lol It passes on from generation to generation not worth taking the chance. On Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 9:44 AM, Debra Wolgemuth <[email protected]> wrote: My maternal grandfather was an alcoholic; a horrible disease. It was interesting to discover how many generations back the alcoholism went as I found an ancestor in the mid-1800's who was a prominent settler of a new town in Georgia, but died young of alcoholism. You can track generation after generation to current day where the alcoholism still exists in the family lineage. > >On my husband's line, there is a genetic bicuspid value problem in the >family. I've noted it in my research records so other family members can be >on the lookout for the genetic defect in their medical care. > >There are other family stories that I have not been able to investigate and >certify, so I haven't added them to my research records. One story was that >my Azorean grandmother's brother was killed by the Portguese mafia by being >thrown off the train between Bakersfield and Fresno. Was there a Portuguese >mafia in Central California? Was this a tall tale or true? Who knows...the >research continues... > >Debbie Wolgemuth >Researching Azoreans: Jorge (Flores), Freitas (Flores), Enos (San Miguel), >Silveira Matos (Faial), Rodrigues (unknown) >Immigrated to: Merced, CA > > >>________________________________ >Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2012 11:36:16 -0700 >From: [email protected] >To: [email protected] > >Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Writing the family history > > >I have been researching my grandfather in the hopes of writing a history for >the coming generations and to satisfy the curiosity of my family about their >heritage. > >After some research, I find that the kindly old man that I knew as a child may >not have been all that nice. Stories are starting to arise of abuse, >excessive drinking, and estrangement of his children. > >My father was a product of his second marriage and cared a lot for his >parents. Vovoo was an old man of 75 when I was born, and I only knew a sweet, >kind old man who loved me. Now, I am finding that the children of his first >marriage did not hold him in such high esteem. > >So, my question for the group is: If you were putting together a family >history for the generations to come, how would you handle this? > >Most of the stories are hearsay as there is no one alive with direct >knowledge, but there must be something to them. > >I am inclined to be very honest in relating family stories, but I wonder how >some of you might handle this. > >Thanks for your input, > >Len > > >-- >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >mailto:azores%[email protected]. Follow the confirmation >directions when they arrive. >For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail >(vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right >that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." >-- >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >mailto:azores%[email protected]. Follow the confirmation >directions when they arrive. >For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail >(vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right >that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
