First off, let me start by saying that I loved my Dad! I still do!

The older I get, the more I realize just how special my Dad was. Why is it we never appreciate what we have until it is gone? I’m sorry to say that I fall into that category. I always complained about how my Dad could have done better raising me or how he could have told me that he loved me. It wasn’t until he was gone and until my children began to grow up that I realized how foolish I was.

Granted my Dad was not the perfect Dad. I know he felt that he had failed as a Dad to us all and shame on us all for helping him to feel that way. He was a good man! He loved his family and he took care of his family. You can’t deny that no matter what he did in raising us all, we turned out OK! Not one of my brothers or sisters is a criminal. Not one of us have been in prison. Not one of us is running from the law. We all work hard, make a living and take care of our families. We are a pretty productive lot and I am proud of us all. How can you call the man who raised us a failure?

My Dad was born in 1928. He was raised in the depression era. His father wasn’t a man of great wealth. From the stories I have heard, my grandfather was a very mean man. My Dad had an 8th grade education and he worked at the Detroit Grocery Market (Detroit, Texas) from the time he was 11 until he went into the Army. He had one love at that time and that was the rodeo. How I wish I could have known him then. He had to take care of his Mama and sisters and he had to put up with his father.

I can say this much. My Dad did make mistakes while we were growing up. But if you look at it from a viewpoint of how he was raised, he did a great job. Yes, we got spankings but Dad never abused us. Yes, he didn’t take us to the doctor when he should have but he made us tough. Yes, he drank and did many other things but he never let that be an excuse to treat us wrong.

When I look back at my life, I try not to look at the bad things that some focus on. I look at the times that my Dad made raisin pie at Christmas. I think of the fruit bags that Dad gave us at Christmas. I think of how I never went hungry, always had a roof over my head and never feared my surroundings because I knew Dad was there. Yes, he never said “I Love You” but he didn’t have to. I’m sure he never heard that either. He showed his love to us everyday. He bought my 2 brothers cars when they were younger. He bought my sister a car. He was going to give me a car but I had to be crazy and up and run away from home! When we needed help, he helped. Yes he gave you the customary lecture but he still helped. When I needed a place to stay after getting out of the Army, he let me stay in his house for 2 years and I never paid a penny of rent. He never demanded it either. He understood that I couldn’t find work in the place I was at. He could have thrown me out, like some parents would.

I am so thankful for my Dad. I spent so many years full of hatred toward him because I thought he had done me wrong but I was the one who was wrong. He started the trend of turning things around in our family. He could have been mean like his father, but he started trying to make things different. Today, his children are raising children and we have taken it another step further. We go out of our way to make sure our children know how much we love them. We take pride in seeing our children graduate and become honorable citizens. And as our children grow and have families of their own, the change will be even better. When we gather at Christmas and Thanksgiving, Dad is not there anymore, but when we look around and see the great family we have become we can give all the thanks to him! He was not a failure! Our children are a reflection of who we are, so just look at what his children have become and you will know that he was a good man, a loyal husband and a loving father. He just had to learn to do things in a different way for us all.

I miss you Dad! Each day that goes by I love you more and more because I now know how hard it is to be a father. Thank you for all you gave to me and to the rest of the family!

I wanted to pop in and give a quick post of what I was able to get today at Harris Teeter. I don’t always post all my coupon savings but I do occasionally do so just to let folks know I am still saving when I can!

I decided to post this one because it is always nice when you have a huge savings! I searched through my coupons and through all the eVic specials this week and decided to take Trina with me and save some dough!

Here is what I was able to get today:

I paid $15.98 for all of this, tax included. I saved over $60! Here’s a very quick and easy breakdown of what I paid for each item, after coupon savings and eVics.

Raisin Bran – $.07 each

Krave Cereal – $.39

Trix Cereal – $.39 each

Bread – $.24 each

Johnsonville Sausage Links – $1.29 each

Bird’s Eye Vegetables – $.50 each

Maxwell House Coffee – $1.57 each

Hidden Valley Dressings – FREE

Simply Orange  - $1.77 each

Do you have a Harris Teeter near you? If so, feel free to share your savings also!

Have a great day everyone!

Ken

It’s not a lot to post but I just wanted to give everyone a glimpse of my new workspace! Hey, we’ve all got to start somewhere! Here’s a picture:

I know it looks pretty tacky right now but you should have seen it a few hours ago! I have a couple more things I want to add and then I can start organizing all that stuff on the shelves and unpacking all those boxes under my desk!

The best part of all this is that I am actually starting to get the “bug” again! I’m ready to start doing some sleuthing!

I’ve yet to talk to my mother but I will try to do so soon. I really want to find out a little more about how her and dad met!

Here’s wishing you all a very wonderful Easter and happy hunting to you all!

Ken

My first 3 years of blogging were very enjoyable for me! If you were able to read any of those posts you would realize that! It’s the last two years that have been hard. There are many reasons but the simplest way of explaining it is that my life has been so busy the last two years!

Let me explain my deleting of the “Beyond Fiction” blog and my launch of “Ken Spangler’s Family Blog”. Let’s just say you were a shop owner. When someone comes in to your store first impressions are very important. You want them to see what you are about. That’s why so much importance is put on the displays up front and the end-caps and such. I feel my blog is very much the same way.

When someone comes to my blog I want them to be able to see what it is about very quickly. As they read the newest blog posts they should get an idea of what they will find here.

Now, imagine my “Beyond Fiction” blog a few weeks ago. When people came to my blog they saw posts about my plans to change the blog, then they would see posts about couponing, then they would see posts about me.

In the last two years I don’t believe I have posted much about genealogy!

I make plans on how I can change my blog and attempt to do so and then allow it to go untouched for a month or so only to reappear with a desire to change it in another way.

All people have seen is confusion!

Thus my realization that I really just needed to start over! I thought long and hard about a new name for my blog because “Beyond Fiction” just didn’t sound much like a name for a genealogy blog.

The decision to call my blog “Ken Spangler’s Family Blog” is simple. That is exactly what I plan on it being. It’s going to be about my family. That includes current family and my ancestors also. I’m hoping this new change will make this blog a little more self-explanatory!

Now, as far as what happened to all the content and the history that was on the other blog, let me say that I would hope folks would have more confidence in me. No, I have not deleted everything, literally. I backed up my blog and have plans on re-posting many of my favorite posts later on. As the time is right, I will bring back posts relating to the person I am currently researching.

The most disturbing thing is that I find it strange that folks are saying that everything is gone! My blog is just a small part of a bigger project. I’m hoping that people realize that I do have a website also! My research can be found by just going to www.kenspangler.com and following the menus there. I admit that there is much more to be added but at least my research is able to be found there.

So, to sum everything up, I have not deleted everything completely. I still have my full 5 years of blogging backed up on my hard drive right now. Eventually, I will re-post most of my favorite posts so you will eventually get to see everything in it’s original glory! If you are wondering about other things, you can always check out my web site and see my research there.

I hope this helps to clear up any confusion. I look forward to bringing you all my research and writings as the years unfold!

Good day,

Ken

As I draw closer to turning 50, I’ve began to make some changes in my life. I don’t know about anyone else but change for me is not always easy. I’ve become pretty set in my ways and I enjoy my life!

So, why change?

Well, the simplest answer is because I feel the need to. As I grow older, a lot of the things I have done in the past are not as easy to do now. Also, I realize that I have to wake up and realize that, even though I plan on living to 100, I’m not ever guaranteed tomorrow.

So, what kind of changes am I making?

Right now, that is still up in the air. It seems that everyday I come up with something new only to realize that I can’t change certain things and some things are better left untouched. However, I am making some lifestyle changes. For instance, I’ve already pretty much eliminated beef from my diet. I think a walking regimen of some sort is in order so that I can try to lose some of this fat. I’m also planning on changing my sleeping habits so that I sleep at night again!

One other thing I want to change is the quality of my posts. Many of my posts are spur of the moment. I think about something I want to write about and sit down and compose a blog in about 10 or 15 minutes. This is reflected in the quality of my posts, especially before I decided to just start all over!

Take for instance the post I am contemplating on my Mom and Dad. I could write about when they met, how long they were married and who their parents were. I could maybe post a couple of pictures and then I could call it a blog post!

Or …

I could call my mother and ask her a few questions about how she met my father, how they fell in love, when they decided to get married, how it was raising children while my father was travelling a lot with the construction company he worked for. If I do a little research I may come up with a tremendous post instead of a little tidbit.

With me getting older, I need to make sure I take the time to do things right the first time!

So, if you don’t see a lot of posts going on here, don’t panic. I haven’t abandoned this new endeavor, I’m just trying to do it right the first time!

I will also have a little something else to blog about here now, such as how my weight loss goals are going, how my new diet is going, how my changing my sleeping patterns will affect me, and the list could go on and on and on!

Thanks for taking moment to let me voice what was on my mind today. I look forward to our next converstation!

Ken

I was born to David Isaac Spangler and Patricia Ann Forbes. My paternal grandparents were David Franklin Spangler and Ora Elizabeth Gamble. My maternal grandparents were George Charles Forbes and Winnie Ida Stevenson.

In my 10+ years of research, I’ve discovered quite a bit about the Forbes and Stevenson lines and have done what I can to improve on the research my cousin has done on the Spangler and Gamble lines.

Since you should always start with yourself and work your way back, I will introduce you to my mom and dad first. Later I will take you along in my journey into each individual line I am researching.

Look for more posts in the next week or so to get us started.

Until then, have a wonderful day!

Ken

If, by chance, you came here from an old link and are looking for the “Beyond Fiction” blog don’t panic. This is the same address but the old blog is now history! It’s strange that I eventually came around to starting over completely, especially considering that I lost everything a couple years ago and tried to make it work anyway. Perhaps I should have just followed what was going on at the moment.

I’ll post more about the demise of my old blog later.

For now, look for new material soon. I believe my starting over will help me to finally get around to doing what I originally loved, blogging about my passions, my family and just about anything else that I find interesting.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful evening!

Ken