take the time to interview your parents.

On the advice of a friend who recently did the same thing with her mother, I sat my dad down over the Christmas break when we were in Oklahoma and got him to talk on videotape for three hours about his life. We obviously didn't get into a lot of detail in that time - he's 79 - but the next several visits back I'll fill in gaps with him and get started with Mom.

Dad tried sort of the same thing with his mother a year before she died in 1982, but just left the tape recorder with her without sufficient instructions on using it, so what we got is pretty spotty. There's a lot of history in your family. If your folks are still around, talk to them.

They'll often really get into telling the stories, even if reluctant at first.

And it's not something you can put off.

They won't always be there.

It's a work in progress, but I'm happy to have started.

OK, it's illegal in some states down here, but you're not here.

It's too late for me, but after my mother's death three years ago, we learned that she had two brothers with the same first name -- different middle initials.

The elder of the two lived to adulthood; the younger died as a child. None of our cousins -- including the offspring of the John who lived until adulthood -- knew why. So now we are left with a mystery. Two Johns in the same generation of the family -- siblings -- one John P. and the other John E.

:shrug:

:) We have some mysteries on Ms Uly's side, too, unfortunately also involving early deaths.

I had to interview an immigrant for a class once, so I interviewed my father. I learned so much about him as a person when I did, it was a great experience. I also did my mom a few years later, too. It's a really, really good idea.

:hi:

was a Rhodes Scholar, and coached my soccer and baseball teams, he had a perfect management style, we won plenty of first place, and always best sportsman award. (something usually the losing teams win) Because of his kindness, and realizing the game was about the players on both sides of the field. Really great guy. He also did something else, he gave me great books to read when I was young.

His father was a self made millionaire, that really disliked computers, and he had a picture of him standing next to Ronald Reagan, when Reagan was Governor of California. He taught me to play ping pong, Chess, And a few card games, was a good guy.

Got lots of other great relatives, good people :)

I was lucky to have such a good family :)

Lots of my relatives are democrats, as I have been for years, so I don't agree with Grandfathers politics, but those things really are not a big deal.

Just mentioned his picture with Reagan, it was interesting. Not elevating Reagan or anything.