My Dad's Story {Book Review} - Equipping Catholic Families

My amazing Mom passed away on July 8, 2025. My Dad still lives in the same house I grew up in, and he’s adjusting to being a widower after 61 years married to my Mom.

He’s learning to cook, do laundry and all the things, and I’ve been going to his doctor’s appointments with him.

When the doctor recommended that he get into crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles or Sudoku, I knew it could be the last straw.
Fortunately, I had learned about a project my cousin did with her parents, asking them questions about their lives and eventually having it formatted into a beautiful hard-cover book. I knew that typing his answers on the computer would be a WAY better use of his time (than crossword puzzles he wasn’t interested in) and quite satisfying for him! I planned to start emailing him questions and format them into my own style book for all of us to treasure, along with him.

Then, right out of the blue, Linda Hamilton messaged me, asking if I would be interested in reviewing one of her Stories to Last Workbooks!

My Dad’s Story (Yes, I Want to Hear It All) is a beautifully crafted hard-cover book with prompts and illustrations for a whole lifetime!
If you look at her website, she has a variety of stories, including:
An Amazing Person’s Story
My Dad’s Story
My Mom’s Story
My Grandfather’s Story
My Grandmother’s Story

She even has services that include formatting the answers into a beautifully customized hardcover book!

I was delighted to receive My Dad’s Story from Linda, and I’ve been working on it with my Dad ever since!

From the start, I knew that getting my Dad to compose his answers on the computer was the way to go. He’s a good writer, and he is enjoying the process!
His ‘accountant handwriting’ might be closer to a ‘doctor’s handwriting’, so having a printed copy is very helpful!

I didn’t want to print out his answers and glue them into the book, because I suspected that the book would become extra bulky with so many added pages.
Instead, I formatted and printed the answers from his emails on full letter-size label paper.

I also took pictures (just with my phone) from old photo albums and printed the images on the same label paper.

As I said, Linda’s books include chapters on everything from Birth, Childhood, College, Military Service, Adult Years, Marriage, Parenting, Volunteering, Grandparenting and Golden Years. While the prompts are super helpful, some of the prompts didn’t work for my Dad, so I just adjusted and added questions.

I adhere his answers (printed on label paper) on top of the questions he won’t be answering.
Sometimes, I ask him about a particular event or memory…and it’s just enough to get him writing all about it. These are classic stories that I heard growing up, and I’m eager to let my kids hear them all!

This has been a wonderful project, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s going to be an ongoing one for as long as my Dad agrees to answer the questions I send him!

If this project appeals to you for your loved one, visit Linda Hamilton’s Website with all the Stories to Last Workbooks: Stories to Last
and here’s the direct link to My Dad’s Story