About

Me and G-Bob, September 2011

I am the black sheep of the family...

No, that's not really true. It's really more like I am the one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-other, member of the family. I'm artistic, I write, I'm into photography, I'm musical, I thrive on being creative - I walk around with a soundtrack in my head for Christ sake - and they are decidedly none of those things. It's as if I've always spoken a completely different language from the rest of them. 

In January of 2010, we lost our Granddaddy Bill. He was a sweet, quiet, patient man who had been completely devoted to my beloved Granny Bob for some 60 years. The days following his funeral meant taking care of business and for me, an extended stay to help sort it all out. The memories shared, stories told and secrets revealed during those days ended up being the missing puzzle pieces that finally proved to me that I DID belong to them and they to me. 

The root of the story is my blood Grandfather, Bob's first husband and my dad's dad, Charles Stone. Charles was 17 when he volunteered for the Army Air Force and was only 19 when he shipped out for England in December 1943, missing the birth of his only son, my dad, by nine days. It's a heartbreaker of a story, but I'm determined to record it and preserve it for my siblings and the rest of the family. 

Being the self appointed family historian, I'm taking all these stories, photos and genealogy discoveries and putting them all to paper. A family record? Definitely. A novel? Maybe. I'm not sure what it will be once it's done, but I'm keeping this blog along this journey just so I don't forget...anything.