Ever since I can remember, I’ve had ice cream pie for my birthday dessert. At my request. And never any other time in the year (I don’t know why). The crust is made with Rice Krispies and peanut butter. I prefer vanilla ice cream and Hershey’s chocolate syrup. But any kind of ice cream works (your preference). It’s absolutely delicious! I promise. GoodGrandma℠ will give you …
By Papa Rich My mother, Gloria, was born in 1921 in Eureka, Utah. She married my father in 1950. She was 32 years old when I was born in 1953 (deemed late in those days). She was thrilled to be a mother—and spent most evenings watching me sleep in my crib, fascinated. Now, my wife …
“Guilty Trip” Years ago, one of my Japanese friends was teaching a class and was giving a lot of positive examples. He was doing this in English, his second language. At some point in the lesson, he realized that hearing so many good examples might be discouraging to the people in the classroom, who were …
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843. I have loved this story ever since I first heard it. I have read it every Christmas season for the past 45 years. Our family attends the play each Christmas season. It is my favorite book, favorite play, and favorite movie (I own all the versions). It is …
Last month, I wrote about how I created my personal history by writing the “stories of my life.” This month my topic is the life history of my parents, Rusty and Gloria Rife. My parents died within 18 months of each other in the late 1990s. It’s been 20 years now, and I still miss …
I have done a lot of family history research. In almost all cases, I only know this much about my ancestors: Name Birth date and place Death date and place Marriage date and spouse Children, including their birth, death, and marriage dates In many cases, I don’t even know that much. But, I rarely know …
I think I can safely say that older people like family history a lot more than younger people do. So, as a grandparent, you may be interested in learning about your ancestors; however, your grandchildren likely are not. They will be someday, though, and by gathering information about your ancestors (and theirs), you will be …
When I was young, I was mildly amused at how “old people” were interested in genealogy—i.e., information about their ancestors. Today, genealogy is euphemistically called “family history.” And today, I’m old, so as could have been predicted, I’m very interested in genealogy or family history, whatever you call it. I keep track of my forebearers …
Visiting the Graves on Memorial Day. When I was a boy, I always went with my parents to visit the graves of our deceased relatives on or near Memorial Day. (Yes, I know Memorial Day was originally designated to honor our troops, but it has expanded to become a day to honor all our deceased loved …
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