Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Uncle Rolan


I did not know Uncle Rolan well. I only remember seeing him twice.

The first time I saw him was when my family moved to Washington. Uncle Rolan had lived there for years. He was showing us a few sights.

The only sight I remember is the Grand Coulee Dam. Everything was so new. It was a little too much for a 9 year old to take in.

The second time I saw him was when Grandma died. I am sure he loved her but she was not an easy person to spend time with. So my feeling is that it was sort of a duty thing.

Uncle Rolan and Daddy went to Grandma's house after the funeral to see if they could find the little bust I made of clay. I really wanted to have it. But they found nothing.

Uncle Rolan had a wife and three children. When I saw him in Washington my aunt was in the hospital. I do not know why. It was not discussed in front of me.

One of their sons died when he was a year old.

Their daughter I did not meet either. She was a teenager and certainly not interested in a bunch of little kid cousins.

The other son was with Uncle Rolan the day we went to the dam. He was also a teenager. He did not seem to mind us too much. My parents saw him playing in the Army/Navy football game one year.

It is really sad that I know nothing more about them. I have no way to learn either because all of them have died.

I discovered that while working on my family tree. I found no records of either of my cousins having families.

So this is the first uncle I introduce. Unfortunately I have little to tell.

12 comments:

  1. It is always good to record what you know! Who knows, maybe more information will come to light someday!

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  2. Interesting how little contact you had with him, and that they are all gone now.

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    1. Interesting and sad. My father came from a splintered family.

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  3. I never met my grandparents; only have a photo of my grandfather and grandmother on my mother's side, nothing on my father's side. I'll try doing some genealogy research but it's just not the same as actually meeting them.

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    1. I know what you mean. I not only never saw my paternal grandfather I have never seen a picture of him either. It does leave a hole.

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  4. People come and go. Sometimes, they go without having come.
    I also do not have much contact with my relatives, although we all live in a small town.

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    1. Many in my father's family were only too happy to move away and not come back.

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  5. Now that my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles are all gone, I wish I had known more about their early. Unfortunately, there is no one left to ask. I also had an uncle who's several years older than my father and I only learned a bit about him when I was in my early teens and have no memory of ever meeting him.

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    1. The continuation of family is more important then people would think. A family connection makes you feel as if you belong in the world.

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  6. Learning the family tree is quite interesting.
    This is where our root is.

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    1. Exactly right. From our family we get genetic traits and they teach us to be the kinds of people they want us to be.

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