Patrick John Blackburn

Patrick Blackburn was born in the fall of 1948.
Evelyn and Richard looked down at their first- born.
Evelyn's cheeks were flushed with joy.
"He looks just like you, Dick."
The tow-headed baby looked up,
Patrick smiled, gurgled and snuggled happily in Evelyn's arms.
Evelyn looked from the baby to Richard, she sighed.
Everything was perfect, this was how life was meant to be.

Father’s Day Challenge

Author Unknown

It  doesn’t matter what you’ve done…
what effect is without a cause?
so what does it matter what you think you’ve done?
now, lay your faithless head down
in necessity’s Cotton Hand
there’s a Love that never changes
no matter what you’ve done
or if your Old Man did you wrong,
maybe his Old Man did him wrong
so if you’d care to sing Forgiveness songs
come down and join our band
we’ll cut you like Sword
and sing Forgiveness songs

My father was one of four children; three boys and one girl. I later learned that all of the boys were alcoholics. My father would sometimes be gone for days. Occasionally, he would lose his job, resulting in my mother having to work. My father once left on a street corner for hours while he sat in a bar. I always thought it was my fault. In those days, people had difficulty in admitting their faults and would do their best to hide them. Therapy was definitely not “trendy” back then.

Father’s Day Challenge

The major challenge of adulthood is forgiving our parents. We often see our parents in others. Our parent’s traits are often recognized in our mates, our friends, our bosses and our children. Forgiving our parents is often the first step towards self-acceptance and maturity. Forgive your father this Father’s Day.
Everyone has childhood wounds and no parent is perfect. In my case, my parents were teenagers when I was born and we all grew up together. My parents had no intentions of hurting us. They only knew the parenting skills of their parents, and it is not for us to judge. Sometimes my parents were selfish and so were we.
Year after year, I clung to hope that my father would someday love me. I discovered later that my father did love me but could not express it. I would often call my father and tell him I loved him only to hear dead silence on the other end of the phone. Then one day he said “I Love You” back to me. He had grown. Our expectations are what we need to forgive. Once I discovered this wisdom, I allowed my dad back into my heart.
The sooner we allow ourselves to have compassion and understanding for circumstances beyond our control, the sooner we can move forward with our lives. The forgiving place is the beginning and the reward is realizing there was never really anything to forgive.

Maureen's Daughter and Grandson

My Great-Nephew Benjamin with his Mom Christi, my sister Maureen's little girl, and Evelyn's granddaughter.

Mary Kate

                                    My beautiful daughter, Evelyn's grandaughter, Mary Kate

The little things

Evelyn was such a splendid mother.
I remember the little things, like how when she made cereal, she would slowly pour the milk so that the flakes were all covered, when she made sandwiches she always spread the butter to the edge of the bread...

Blackburn Family, The Begining

Hello to all  Blackburns and relatives wherever you are.

I am working on some stories, biographical material really, about Evelyn and Richard my parents.

I'm basing them on memory, so, at my age, I need to get it down pretty quick.
If I make any errors that anyone knows of, please let me know via  my email address.
Also, any memories that anyone would share would be helpful.
You know, what goes on the Internet, or, "the internets" as some call it, lasts forever.
So with help I can insure Evelyn and Richard's story will last forever, and their plethora of descendants will have access to biographical information about them and each other.
Many friends on facebook knew Evelyn, my Mom, and know or knew my brothers, children , sisters and so on.
So any recollections would be helpful.
Anything too personal you can email me.
Thank you.

Mary Anne Blackburn

The lady I married in another time, long ago.
I have made a mistake or two, but marrying this beautiful and intelligent lady was was not one of them.
Together we created two lovely and intelligent daughters.
The day I met Mary Ann, a life long
obsession with her began for me.
Oh, I didn't show it.
But she occupied my thoughts  much of the time from the very first time I laid eyes on her.
When I think of her blood flowing
In the veins of the descendants of Richard and Evelyn, it gives me great joy.

I saw her in the park for the first time. MacCarther Park, a mile or two from downtown L.A., the day was perfect, seventy degrees, everything was green...well the lake and sky were blue, the shrubs near where Mary Anne was wrestling were green....