What I Never Knew About Old Pa Ringer

Family history is more interesting than everything throughout the centuries

"He was a policemen, you know. One of the most respected in the city."

Family history had interested me since I could remember. I used to pore over photo albums of my mom and dad when they were young. Had they really ever looked like that? Had Dad ever really smile at Mom like in the pictures I saw? He sure didn't anymore...

My great-grandfather was affectionately known as Geegee (soft G's). His father was just referred to by the family as Pa. I never knew Geegee, but apparently I was cut from the same cloth: a mischievous little devil with wit and a penchant for practical jokes. I was always more like Mom's side of the family than Dad's; that's just the way I was. But I wasn't like Pa. The more I learned about him, the more I didn't see how I could ever live up to his bar.

"Oh yes. He was respected by the rest of the force and by criminals alike. He was fair and was clean, treating everyone with dignity and respect."

Even the bad guys? Really?

I was suspicious, having begun to understand the concept, if not the term, of family apocrypha by that time. Nine-year-olds can be pretty perceptive sometimes.