My Lifelong Childhood

CHILDHOOD!!! After some eleven blog posts about my family's roots, I ponder where to go from here.  I've turned to my wife and friends for counsel on this, in discussing my life as a basis for a memoir, I did not want to sound self-serving or self-promoting.  I see enough of that on Facebook and other social media.  I guess I'm interested at an introspective look at myself and how I have come to have certain values, biases, and, yes, even a weird sense of humor!  I also want to respect the privacy of my wife and children, as well as avoiding blowing my horn about them like a helicopter parent.  So I guess I'll rely on memories, but not in chronologic order.  I just want to relate events that to me were special or were highlights of my life.  In doing so, I wish to encourage all my readers to do the same, whether in the written or spoken word, and to pass them down to your kids if you have them.  If not, just enjoy them yourselves.  I have...

I have finally reached the final blog posts of my family's background before actually getting into "my lifelong childhood".  I have been encouraged by your comments by e-mail, Facebook and, in person.  What I've come to realize is that we ALL have interesting family stories and I encourage you to look into yours.  What made your forebears go from one country to another (and perhaps several countries)?  What moments of heartbreak, courage, innovation, and discovery did they bring to their stories?  How did they, in fact, survive and how has it affected the way you, yourself, have turned out?  These are all questions that fascinate me and have moved me to continue this project. THE MAYERS My grandfather Leo's parents present a dilemma for me because, unlike the Debear/Frankfort side, I have been stymied at finding out much information.  Much of their story takes place in Cincinnati, Ohio, the "Queen City".   Sitting on the Ohio River, it was f...

GRANDPA LEO I realize, after speaking with my daughter by phone last night, that my two grandfathers are separated by only one letter!  Leo and Leon (about whom I have already written in a previous blog post)!  Yet, in background and life experiences, they are probably worlds apart.  One I didn't know at all and the other I knew for only four years.  Yet the stories about Leo are numerous and approach legend.  Was he an icon, respected and looked up to by his peers...or was he a scoundrel?  Probably a little bit of both I would say. LEO MAYER Through the wonders of the internet, I have discovered much about my grandfather.  However, if you were to google his name, you would come up with the Argentinian tennis star, Leonardo Mayer, who I just happened to see at this year's US Open! Grandpa Leo  Leo was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on Feb.21, 1884 in the Betts Street Hospital.  He was delivered by Dr. H.W. Dunham.   His father, M...

DE BEAR? DE BAER? DE BEER? THE DE BEAR'S I have a educated suspicion that, when the De Bears came over from Holland, there was a different spelling.  I had hoped it was De Beers and that I was the heir to the great diamond dynasty that was founded by Cecil Rhodes in South Africa. I had you going for a moment, didn't I? ... But, alas, they were two brothers, Boers, who settled as farmers in the Orange Free State who just happened to discover diamonds on their land and they were forced by the British government to sell their farm for next to nothing.  So much for a name! My De Bears were very likely De Baer which is more prevalent in Dutch records.  So, unlike my Frankfort family, I have had more difficulty tracking them back in time. Solomon De Bear Solomon De Bear My great-grandfather, Solomon was born in New York City in 1861, one of nine children and the only male! They were by order of birth: Esther, (who died in infancy), Solomon, Flora, Paulimia, Lo...