Mom and Dad’s Wedding License Story

by Robert Morel Dad was stationed on the destroyer, USS Rooks (DD-804) from June 1951 to July 1953. He reported to her as a LTJG in June 1951 at San Diego, CA, they went via the Panama Canal to Newport, RI, where they operated up and down the East coast until April 1952, when they […]

Thoughts on Father’s Day

Perhaps it’s true that you never truly understand your father until you become a parent yourself. Perhaps. My relationship with my own, was a little complicated. My first memory of my Dad was: “Just who does this guy think he is?” You see in the early days, my father was out to sea quite a […]

How Grace Met Leo

Aunt Grace tells the story of how she met her husband, Leo who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  

Return to Cape Cod: 20+ Years Later

On May 1, 2011, we took a trip to Cape Cod to revisit a couple of spots that we had stayed previously. Billisgate Ave In Eastham, MA Is where we spent our honeymoon back in 1986, near First Encounter Beach. OK, it’s true that I left the honeymoon a little early to go back and […]

Memories of Mom on Mother’s Day 2011

I love this photo of my parents. This is them as chaperons at my junior prom in the PI. One of these days, I’ll stumble on my photo with my girlfriend, Dale, at this event. But for now, it’s MIA. Today, the boys and I had brunch for Kathleen and inevitably, stories came up of […]

Al Morel ran the Boston Marathon 1921!

Yes, I am officially as old as dirt, but not quite that old. My grandfather, and namesake, ran the Boston Marathon in 1921 on a bet. I think we only spoke of it one time, and he sort of brushed it off as there weren’t that many people running and he lost a few toenails […]

A Trip to Clinton for Family Geneaology

On this day back in 1924, my namesake, and grandfather, married Agnes Gibbons, a girl from Clinton, MA .  We decided to take a trip Clinton to see if we could find my great grandparents gravesite and visit the church. The document below is the current version of the Morel and Gibbons family tree and […]