BLESS ME FATHER...For I have sinned: A Memoir

With amazing clarity the writer paints a picture with words of a bygone era of the American Landscape. A long time before Tv, Dvd's, Vcr's, cell phones, iPods, and the Internet. The pace was much slower and life a lot simpler. Growing up during the Great Depression kids played on the street coreners or vacant lots. Playing such games as Red Come Over and One Potato, shooting marbles, and organizing their own baseball games. Long before Little League or Soccer Moms. The players found a vacant lot, brought their own taped up baseball and bat, chose up sides, and played without benefit of uniforms or umpires.

With the birth of the author's granddaughter, Olivia Grace Woolam, his wife, Joan, gave him a journal to complete that would tell the story of his ancestors. Thinking it would only take a few weeks he began to answer the questions about his life, and the lives of his parents and grandparents. It wasn't long before he became intrigued and also realize how little he knew of his ancestors. He spent the next five years researching his family. The journey took him to the Black Forest of Germany, the small villages of Bavaria, and large cities of Stuttgart and Frankfurt, then on to the Emerald Isle of Ireland. There were countless hours viewing microfilm in the Philadelphia Library, Department of Vital Statistics in Philadelphia and Riverside, New Jersey. The project required tedious research of census information dating back to 1880 and visiting several old cemeteries throughout the region. The result is a comprehensive, authoritative, and poignant memoir of his life and the history of his family. He tells the story of his failed marriage, abandoning his children, the struggle with alcoholism, finding recovery and a second chance at an unbelievable life. The story is told with refreshing frankness and honesty. The author stated he is certain that Olivia, indeed all of his grandchildren, and future generations will be proud to be members of this unique family.