I lost my dad when I was 3. So I never really got to know him. It’s not uncommon for people to meet me and recognize him in my name or face or both. When I meet people who knew him, it’s a rare chance to hear stories of who he was to them. I treasure these stories because they are the fragments of his life and personality that make him more real to me.
Most people want to share stories that make him look good and are designed to help me feel proud of him. I already do. The best stories go beyond that and share something of his humor, his curiosity, his tendency to ignore boundaries or rules he didn’t believe in, his impatience with people who weren’t as curious as he was. The more pieces I have of him the better I know myself; good, bad and ugly. And even if the story makes that picture more complicated, all the better. Every good character is complicated.
So if you have a story about my dad, I’d love for you to share it.
I’m collecting them and I hope to share them with other people who remember him and want to continue.
Ways to Share
- Call and leave a voice mail: (626)-502-6288
- Send me a video message on your favorite app. I’m @mattlumpkin on everything.
- Record a video of yourself or a voice memo on your phone and share it with me.
You can email it to me if it’s small: mattlumpkin@gmail.com.
You can upload it to this google drive folder from your phone or your computer.
I prefer audio or video because it adds life to the story but if you would rather write, you are welcome to email me at mattlumpkin@gmail.com.