Yesterday was the National Day of Listening (see post by that name below). I called up my Uncle Fred in New York. He’s 78, the youngest and last of my maternal grandparents’ five kids. We spent a wonderful 35 minutes or so on the phone before he got tired.

Among the many cool things I learned: My dad was a bit of a hothead. After graduating from Officers Training School at an Army base in the south, he punched out someone who called him a Jew-boy when he was defending an African-American friend.

He got busted; lost his lieutenant’s bar. But eventually earned it back.

I’m proud of you, Dad!

And I am grateful to Uncle Fred for his excellent memory. I recorded the conversation, and will do so with additional talks we’ve planned, and circulate them to relatives.

You can do this, too. Remember the Storycorps motto: “Listening is an act of love.”