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From: <>
Subject: Re: Hello-ooooo
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 18:03:29 EDT


Morning all,
First posting on this list although I am not sure exactly what this list
does. However, in the spirit of tin boxes I might share something else that
may make some of you go searching. Like most of us, when an ancestor dies we
ask ourselves why we did not listen more or ask more questions. My maternal
grandfather and I were great buddies and played golf every day in the school
holidays. He was a wonderful story teller and during these games, and at
other times, he told stories of his life (mostly in India where he was an
engineer and about his father, also in India, who was a friend of Lord
Roberts of Kandahar). I missed him enormously when he died but it was only
some years later when I became interested in the family history, that I
cursed myself for not making notes of his stories. Well, a couple of years
ago, after my Dad died, I found a tape my Dad had made with my grandfather
about 40 years ago. It is about 1.5 hours long and virtually an interview
with my grandfather about his family history. Apart from the incredibly
amount of information in it, I cannot even begin to describe what it was like
to suddenly hear his voice and laughter again after nearly 35 years. As he
talked and laughed I could picture him. I knew exactly how he was sitting,
what he was doing, even what he was wearing. And the more I listened, the
more other stories came back to me. Perhaps some of you not only have tin
boxes but also a long ago made tape hidden away.
Cheers
Clive Park

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