The best part about being a dad is getting to be Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and just an all around superman to my kids.  I used to hate having to get up in the middle of the night for their crying.  Now.....its the best feeling in the world when they are tired and they are comforted by me as I hold them in their arms.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I thank my wife for her patience with me and believing I could learn to be a dad.  Now?  I wouldn't miss it for the world. 

My son lost his tooth from running into a fricking pole at the Nez Perce Interpretive Center in Wallowa Oregon earlier this week - and has been wondering why the lousy tooth fairy hasn't come yet.  Every morning, Rachel asks if she came first thing as she wakes up: "Did the tooth fairy come??!" (She hasn't lost a tooth yet, so watching him lose his and get stuff for it is pretty fascinating).

"No."

(Me in my head as I wake up "SON OF A BREADBASKET!!!  D*#$@#! I FORGOT AGAIN!  #!$!!@!)

"Did you have it out?"

"...yes..."

"Maybe it needs to actually be under the pillow...."

"I'll try that."

Anyways, the tooth fairy just came.

As I placed the gold dollar on his nightstand, for just a moment, I could actually feel the magic in his world that comes when I'm a dad to him. I actually felt it and I almost thought I heard something like...angelic singing from another world....as I put it down.   I paused for a moment.  I actually did feel something and hear something....

He won't know it's me being a dad.  To him it will just be a bit of unseen magic.  But it will be wonderful to him.  

Just like it was to me when I was little and the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy or Santa came.

But....to us, isn't that what magic really is?  I mean, even God see's everything - yet to us - when he puts a miracle in our hands, we don't see all the work that went into making it happen - yet its very much a magical miracle to us in this world of turmoil and tumult.

I thank God for miracles.  Even if I am the miracle to others - especially my family and loved ones.  In this world of tears and sorrow - a bit of magic or a miracle of sorts - is an amazing thing at times that can lift spirits and mend hearts.  In a world that is so tight-fisted and ungiving, someone willing to share or make or do something special....really is a miracle and magical.   It is what makes Heaven what and where it is and its a bit of Heaven here when it happens.

 I also thank God that I get to be a dad.

Okay - just so everyone knows - we have firearms in our house. Most of them are loaded. My kids have learned about firearms and know what they do and they know they aren't toys. We also have knives in the kitchen. We also have cleaners under the sink. Scissors in drawers. The toilet bowls aren't locked and someone could drown in them. Gravity is in force in our place and things could fall down. If this makes you or a government agency uncomfortable to be in our home....tough tiddlywinks.

Family History Month!  Declared by ME!  Has been moved from March to August annually on a recurring basis! (YAYYYYY!)

My pioneer grandfather's memorial stone in Tillamook

Why August?  Because the kids are out of school.  Because the weather's nice.  Because we're not recovering from Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years/My Birthday/ Valentines Day like we are in March and getting hit with Green Beer Parades on the 17th and have some energy.  Because we can actually visit family historical sites in the nicer weather!  Because August is the only month in the US without a holiday.  It's open.  And I'm about to muck that up.

So, how do you get started in your genealogy?

Easy! Get something to write on or an empty word processing sheet and start with yourself! 

What's your full name?
Where were you born?
When were you born?
Who are your parents?
Where did you grow up?
Where did you go to school?
When did you graduate?
Did you serve in the military?
When? Where? What did you do?
Anything historical happen in your life - i.e. been in the newspaper? 
Are you married?
To whom?
When did that happen?
Where did that happen?
(Why did that happen? Cuz her dad had a shotgun....I actually got threatened at my wedding by my wife's grandfather....he has more guns than I do and is even more conservative than I am and told me in the Sealing Room of the Portland Oregon Temple "You'd better take care of her, you know how many guns I've got and I am dead serious about my grandaughters being taken care of." I was annoyed at the time - but makes a good memory and I think her grandad is pretty frickin cool.)
Do you have children?
What are there names? All the same questions above for them too!
What about your brothers and sisters?

Genealogy is EASY to get started on.  And VERY addicting. 

You can download a free bit of software to track you family tree like Personal Ancestral File (PAF) (more used by LDS family historians) or Family Tree Builder.

SS Konig Albert - the ship my grandfather came from Italy on

Talk to family members.  Ask questions.  Write down what you find.

Old photographs?  Find them and label them!  Gather them together!

Then, when you've fanned out a bit, start taking a trip to the cemetery to photograph headstones if you wish and attach the photos to the names you find.

Or go to local museums and often there's some history there if your family history is located there - mine are located in Tillamook Pioneer Museum, Oregon.  Actually, it was kinda....strange/cool to see my great-to-the-fifth grandfather's picture on the wall and have my wife say "oh....you have his eyes!"

Other things you can do?  Go visit old homes your family has lived in - photograph those!  Places they used to visit for dinner or work?  Get a picture!  Document it!  Go visit!   Write a letter to the ones who are still alive!

It's really that easy to GET STARTED.  Later when you start getting "back there" or crossing oceans - that's a little bit more difficult and we'll save that for another day.  I'm first/second generation American on my mom's side so my tree abruptly stops in Marseille, France and Alto Pascio, Toscana, Italy at my granparents (IN THE 1800's - it's 2011 and I'm in my 30's and my grandparents....1800's.... Europe..... horses..... grandparents.... no airplanes....not even WWI yet....grandpa fought in WWI....but - bit of a gap.  That's what happens when you have a kid at 63.)

My grandpa did stonesmasonry on Timberline Lodge and wasn't in The Shining

Anyways, that's how you start.  And trust me - that's enough to keep you busy.  You can if you wish buy fancy family trees to hang on your wall and fill it out - I have one that's very lopsided on dad's side of the family and empty on mom's side...that whole Europe thing...

But - yah! If you've never done it - WELCOME TO FAMILY HISTORY!   I'll go over a bit more I hope as the month goes on.