remembering daddy: a father’s day tribute

Riding the Tail of the Dragon.

Riding the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina.

This is my first Father’s Day without my Daddy here. What else can I say except I miss him sorely. [Pause] In sharing what I miss most or my most cherished memory it is hard to find a good starting point. He was far from perfect. Oh, he had a good share of flaws, but this is what made him incredibly down-to-earth and relatable in my eyes. It made him human. It made him present. And while he was still here and still present he could present with such vivid color, stories of his childhood or a delicious meal that had encountered his palate in a way that would prb_2 just reel anyone in. I miss our conversations. No matter how bizarre they became toward the end of his time here on this earth, I knew I could pick up the phone and hear on the other end of the line, his voice.

Thankfully, my Daddy filled my cup with so many memories good, bad and just plain ugly that I could go the rest of my lifetime keeping him close at heart. Knowing that as long as I hold a memory or two of him near that he will always be here with me. I will remember the time when he surprised my 8 year-old brother and my 10 year-old self by bringing home a new member of the family. It was a bonsai tree. And I will remember that terrible visit to his apartment after he had gone. There she was on the table in front of me. Karma, his beloved bonsai tree. I will recall his excitement after returning from a bike ride up and down the Tail of the Dragon. He always wanted to make a point of the number of curves there and the number of fellow thrill-seekers who attempted the same ride, but never survived to tell it. Then I will reflect on the somber feeling that filled my stomach when I had the tow come and take his bike away. I’m grateful that he left this temporary place trusting that I would be strong enough to handle his final wishes. To handle his passing far too soon.

I alluded to his gifted ability to tell a story and now I’d like to share an excerpt from an incomplete unpublished work that consumed his spirit during his final years.

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an introduction and welcome

ancestry_in_progress_logoHere I am. Back again in the blogosphere. For those of you who know me personally you are likely transitioning from my main site/blog adrienne-is to my new home on the web. For those of you joining me for the first time, welcome. Long story short, I started my adrienne-is blog back in 2003. It was a space where I wrote about everything under the sun. Then I started blogging for an AOL owned travel blog and somehow my personal blog started to become a travel blog as well. Suddenly life changed a bit. I got married, had children and lost my voice or my blogging voice I should say.

A few months ago, I was profiled for a Jet Magazine Black History month piece on genealogy. It was such an honor to be included amongst some serious family historians. I was likely included because of my family focused children’s picture book, Isaac and the Bah Family Tree. (You can read more about that under my bio to the right.) Anyhow, each one of us was featured with links to our websites so that readers could follow us for helpful insight for their own roots searches. The problem with my old site was not only did I write very little about my actual genealogy work / hobby, I had pretty much stopped writing completely. I did say I lost my blogging voice, didn’t I? So perhaps I felt a bit guilty having all that traffic pointed in my direction with no genealogy goodies for the readers.

Solution: I found my blogging voice again. With this Ancestry in Progress blog I plan on documenting much of what I’ve already learned along my 10+ years of family research. I’m no expert on any one topic here, but I’ve discovered some valuable nuggets of information over the years. With many of my family lines being trapped 4-5 generations back in the Magnolia State (Mississippi) that is where I will mostly place my focus. I’ll also include my two cents on genetic genealogy, popular television programs related to the topic, relevant articles as well as how I’m preserving my own family history. If that isn’t enough then I may just through in a word or two about building my family tree in real-time (i.e., raising my two little loves). My hope is that you’ll come here and find a something that sparks you to start up your own family research. If you’re a seasoned researcher following along then I hope you’ll help me to maintain my sanity after I’ve yet again gone page by page through a census record with no luck of finding my ancestor. Enough with my chatter.

Welcome and thank you for visiting.

P.S. For those wondering about the site title, I drew inspiration from one of my favorite artists, Zap Mama. Ancestry in Progress was the title of her 2004 album which she described in a way that feels much the same the way in how I view my overall ancestry work. Everything here is a work in progress. My family tree remains a working family tree. When I think about the lives of my ancestors, their struggles — the things they fought to overcome I can certainly see parallels from the past to present. There is still so much work to be done. And having lived a number of places throughout my short time here on Earth, very few environments have provided a true feeling of belonging and being at home. As for the future, it will be very interesting to see the road my descendants walk provided there are any roads at all. Human migration is so fascinating. Perhaps they will have found a way for them to reside in another galaxy! This is my ancestry in progress – Past. Present. Future.