Daddy’s Stories

| Flower Roberts

While my daddy was in hospice dying of cancer, I sat by his bed every morning and took notes about what he said. He made me read the notes back to him. It was important that I get everything right.
I gave him a small notebook to jot down things he needed for me to do or bring to him. The lists he made for me ended up being the titles of stories he wanted to tell me to be written down.
We used the list as an agenda for our daily meetings. I would read off a title and he would tell me the story. When it was properly recorded, the title would be checked off the list.

Notebook to the left is the list of titles in Daddy’s handwriting.


This was my job during the weeks before he died. It was important to him that his stories be preserved. Who he was made me who I am and who I am made my children who they are. These stories matter.
That is the reason I am reading The Healing Power of Stories by Daniel Taylor Ph. D.. I want to have a clear goal of how I want to preserve Daddy’s stories before I begin. This will be my third family memoir project.

My daddy, the storyteller.

I am grateful to have these treasures to share with future generations. My two children are the only great, grand children on my daddy’s side of the family. His line may end after them, but I would like these stories to go to families who might enjoy the adventures of a little boy growing up in a small, southern town.

Daddy would like that.

FLOW

19 thoughts on “Daddy’s Stories”

  1. Wonderful treasures Flow, I wish I had paid more attention to my Elderly Aunt before she past away.. She held a wealth of knowledge about my Dads family, and It is now all lost.. I remember only snippets..

    These things are indeed to be treasured xx ❤

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    1. He was a wonderful person with many interests. I will get it done. I know how to pull things together now that I have published a book. I am still a terrible typist, but writing programs help. Thanks John Malone.

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  7. I’m so proud of you and your book writing, Flow. What a treasure you have in these stories. I wish I had paid closer attention to the family stories. When my dad was under hospice care, I did ask him to tell me some stories about his childhood, his family, his work, and how he met mom. Mom chimed in with her own version of how they met–it differed a bit from dad’s version, but that’s what made it fun. I’m planning a trip to visit two of my aunts (the only ones still living). One aunt is my mom’s youngest sister and the other is dad’s youngest sister. I have a whole bunch of old family photos that I inherited from my mom. I’m hoping that my aunts can conjure up a few names of people and, perhaps, a few stories to go with the photos. Of course, my plan is to listen carefully and write down what I learn.

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