Passing It On

To drink or not to drink?

We Americans have a long, erratic history with alcohol ever since the Puritans arrived on the Mayflower, toting more beer than water.

Soon after their arrival, our nation's first laws against drunkenness were enacted. Responsible consumption of beer, wine and liquor has been pretty much the norm ever since, if you overlook the occasional successes of a sporadic temperance movement or those 13 years of federally mandated prohibition from the last century.

You may have alcohol-related stories in your family. I know that my Danish grandparents grew their own grapes in Iowa and made their own wine during those prohibition years. My mother helped bottle it. My grandfather may have made his own beer, too. I know he had a fondness for beer, the cheaper the better.

The other side of my family was quite the opposite. They were devout teetotalers. I€'ve never known my parents to drink, except for a very short period when they tried sipping wine after reading that it was good for their health.

My wife was brought up in a family where even children enjoyed a cordial glass of wine with a good meal, a tradition we'€™ve passed on to our own children. Living a few years in California wine country nurtured our appreciation for that region'€™s wines and served as a magnet for visitors during our time there.

Our familial attitude toward alcohol is fairly typical, I think. We applaud the trend of producing local micro brews, thoroughly enjoy the renaissance of the Iowa wine industry, are grateful for the folks who resurrected Templeton Rye and will never understand "light beer."€

Generally speaking, alcohol consumption has been a plus in our family history. That'€™s not the case in some families, who have been devastated by the effects of alcohol abuse. Help is available from the National Institutes of Health.

The best thing we can all do is to serve as good examples for future generations in our own families.

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Flickr photo courtesy of psunmsp.

Been married long? How about 83 years?

Long marriages run in my family. My parents have been married for 65 years and my wife and I have celebrated at several relatives’ Golden Anniversaries.

But I was still blown away when blogger Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings reported the end of a marriage in Minnesota that had lasted 83 years when Clarence Vail, 101, died recently. He is survived by his 100-year-old wife, Mayme, and four generations of offspring.

Clarence and Mayme’s 1925 union was so enduring that even their grandchildren had grandchildren at the time of Clarence’s death. To put their married life into a broader context, consider that these events occurred in the first five years of their life together as a married couple:

Babe Ruth had his famous 60-home run season for the New York Yankees
Charles Lindbergh became the first aviator to solo nonstop across the Atlantic
The stock market collapsed on “Black Thursday” in 1929
Movies were silent and only in black and white at the time of their marriage and Mickey Mouse didn’t appear until 1928

Randy raised the question of who had the longest marriage in history. The folks at Wikipedia have taken a stab with this list that has Clarence and Mayme at No. 7.

What are the longest-lasting marriages in your family history?

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Flickr photo courtesy of RozzieM.

Personal, institutional history takes beating from Mother Nature

While most Iowans relish our time in the spotlight in the months (or years!) prior to our quadrennial political caucuses that help steer the course of national presidential politics, we’re not as fond of what’s been happening lately.

Tornadoes and floods have been the forces behind our most recent notoriety, which most of us in the heartland would gladly trade for a few dry days of peace and quiet. The news is full of people telling tales of loss. For those who have been fortunate enough to survive the recent calamities without death or serious injury to their loved ones, the anguish is focused on the irreplaceable – the photos and other items that once linked them to their past but are now gone forever.

Besides the personal loss, flooding also creates institutional loss. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for example, the Linn County Courthouse, the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library and the Cedar Rapids Public Library were overrun by river water. Newspaper Archive.com, a site used heavily by genealogists, was forced to shut down.

I find it particularly interesting that these Iowa institutional losses have been reported on by a California blogger named Craig Manson, whose GeneaBlogie site has done an excellent job of framing the Iowa disasters in genealogical terms.

Of course, floods and tornadoes aren’t the only threats to our family histories. This story about a fire in Peabody, Mass., carries comments from a family historian lamenting the loss of priceless items from her family.

Sometimes nature just sneaks up on us before we can adequately prepare, but there are some steps we can take to disaster-proof our own family heirlooms and histories. You can learn more from California conservator and preservationist Scott Haskins here.

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Photo of flooded Czech Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, courtesy of excaliburdj.

Father’s Day is more about family than cheap gifts

Gaudy ties. Cheap aftershave. Singing fish plaques. Golf tees in the form of a woman’s torso.

These are the stereotypical prizes claimed by stereotypical American dads on Father’s Day every June. Dads are bumbling louts who deserve some sort of begrudging recognition once a year, whether earned or not, goes one stereotype perpetuated by a sizable segment of the ubiquitous greeting card industry.

If your family is like mine, dads are difficult to shop for. My own father conceded as much in a recent conversation when he acknowledged that he really doesn’t have room for anything new and doesn’t actually need a thing that he doesn’t have. When I pointed out that I’m just as grateful when my own kids acknowledge me with their presence or a phone call on Father’s Day, he nodded in agreement.

So, I’m eagerly awaiting our family gathering on Sunday when my brothers and I gather at our parents’ house to treat Dad and Mom with our presence, assorted versions of various family stories and, of course, plenty of picnic/party food. With both of our parents well into their 80s, each such gathering is precious.

Father’s Day 2008 coincides with three family history offerings that will set you back a grand total of one cent, if you take advantage of them before they expire in a week. Check these out:

• Ancestry.com recently doubled the size of its historical newspaper collection - adding a billion names and 20 million images. You can check out Ancestry’s entire newspaper collection for free through June 19. Check it out here.
• You can order as many books at you want at genealogical.com and have them shipped to you via parcel post for one cent if ordered before midnight EDT on June 18. Check this offer out here.
• Do you use the Firefox browser? Even if you don’t, now might be a good time to switch. Although it’s always free, if you download the new Version 3 on its launch day on June 17, you might be part of a world-record effort. Sign up here.

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Photo: My Dad, Jack Lehmer, is flanked by his sisters Agnes and Phyllis with younger brother Calvin cutting up in front of them in this 1939 photo from the collection of lwlehmer.

Changes in nature alter our family history, too

   

See that critter to the right? It’s a turtle; an Iowa turtle.

Turtles may not be that rare in your part of the world, but they’ve been popping up like crazy in our little suburban community. This guy was discovered on a soccer field near our public library. On my morning walk today, I spotted another whose shell measured at least 12 inches. That’s huge for these parts.

We’re stuck in a wild, soggy weather pattern that’s put some of our wildlife on the move. Last week we spotted a muskrat near our back yard, something we hadn’t seen in over 20 years. Deer in our neighborhood are so common that they no longer run when seeing a human. Current deer populations consider themselves suburbanites, too, I suppose.

Times are definitely changing. Old-timers in Iowa still tell stories about what a thrill it was to catch a glimpse of a deer in their youth, a time when whitetails were rare in these parts. While deer and wild turkeys have enjoyed a comeback in Iowa over the years, other species have not. We’re in danger of losing a couple of species of turtles and several species of mammals, fish and birds, including the common barn owl.

I’m pretty much a city boy, though I’ve had several relatives who have lived on farms. Although contemporary life often pushes us further away from our connections with nature, I think it’s valuable to re-establish those connections whenever possible. Take a hike, go camping, hop on a bike. Check out nature from a fresh vantage point. This planet functioned quite nicely before we arrived and will do quite well after we’re gone.

In the meantime, our descendants will want to know how nature worked for the generations that preceded them. It’s possible that the pace of natural change is accelerating. It’s our duty to document those changes and their effects on our own family’s lives.

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon..

Turtle photo courtesy of lwlehmer.

Medical history forms are annoying, but important

Do you find it as annoying as I do when you have to fill out one of those medical history forms when visiting a doctor? With me it’s not so much the form itself, but the fact that medical paperwork has mushroomed in recent years. There are insurance forms, emergency contact forms, disclaimer forms and how-do-you-like-the tropical-fish-in-the-atrium forms (oops…off topic…sorry).

Truth is, knowing our medical history and sharing it with those that care for us is one of the more important things we can do in taking care of ourselves. According to the Beloit Daily News, “a recent survey found that 96 percent of Americans believe that knowing their family history is important. Yet, the same survey found that only one-third of Americans have ever tried to gather and write down their family's health history.”

I come from healthy stock. Or so I have always thought. My maternal grandparents lived to be 83 and 97 and both of my parents are still living, well into their 80s. But things are a bit different on my paternal side, where neither of my grandparents reached 80. That grandfather and an aunt died of cancer and another aunt died of heart disease exacerbated by diabetes. Plus, many members of the past couple of generations on my mother’s side have developed Type II diabetes.

In my younger years, I never connected those dots, a fact undoubtedly reflected on those medical history forms I filled out at that time. Even though I still find filling out the forms to be annoying, I have a much greater appreciation of their importance and am more diligent about providing accurate information.

The U.S. Surgeon General has made it easier for you to organize and present relevant family medical information at this web site. The burden of collecting accurate data, however, falls on you. Make sure you seek out this information as you work on your own family history project. It could save your life someday.

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Flickr photo courtesy of  cjanebuy.

Breaking news from the death beat

This just in from the WWM News Bureau: You are going to die.

Sorry to be so direct, but one of the unavoidable side effects of living is dying. It’s one of those life experiences that we all share, regardless of our ethnicity, social standing or overall lifestyle. But we differ greatly in how we prepare for the ultimate reckoning.

That is why there are so many euphemisms for death and dying. Many of us see it as a transition from the material world to a spiritual one. Thus phrases such as “crossing over” and “passing on.” Religious people might prefer “called home by the Lord” or “soaring with the angels.” The poetic among us may opt for something like those words penned by William Shakespeare in Macbeth, “out, out, brief candle.”

There are plenty of euphemisms available and, in this era of paid obituaries, you’ve probably seen plenty in your local newspaper. In my days as a newspaper reporter, there was just one way to refer to a person’s demise: “John Doe died.” There was no dying suddenly, either. As a journalism professor noted: “All deaths are sudden. You’re alive one minute and dead the next.” And you’ll never find a newspaper person writing about how a dead person has entered heaven since that’s a non-verifiable piece of information.

While living, we have the opportunity to make our preferences known. Chances are good that payment for your own obituary will come out of your estate. Shouldn’t the words come from you as well?

Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand --  Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.

Photo courtesy of The Library of Congress.