my history?

I know very little about my history. This much is clear to me.

Writing about my lack of history seems to be a literary sin, like writing a story about writer's block. But I don't want to make anything up. That seems unforgivable. And I genuinely know very little. When I was in first grade, I remember I had to make a family tree. It went back to my grandparents, and no farther. I still don't know who my great-grandparents are, and my parents have actually forgotten who my godfather is. This last fact in particular boggles the mind. They must know who he is and just not want to tell me, for whatever reason. Maybe he's a felon or a drug dealer or John Kerry, or someone else who would embarrass our family.

My parents have always been secretive about their past. I know nothing about how they met or when or why they got engaged. I did not realize that this was unusual for a long time.

I took advantage of this assignment to send my father this text: "I am supposed to write about our family lore. Do we have literally any family lore? I cannot think of any." He responded with a story about my great-great-aunt Mary, who was apparently a renowned whistler in her hometown of Woodstock, Illinois, and who apparently "studied for years to become a professional whistler," because once upon a time such a thing was possible. (This country would be happier if professional whistlers still existed.) Anyway, her first performance was panned. Nobody smiled, nobody clapped. And just like that, her whistling career was over. I suppose I could spin this into a story, but a novel? I'm not sure.

No, if I were going to write a novel about my family, I would have to broach the subject of my godfather. Perhaps some amazing story lurks there. I hope so. I could do with some lore.

UPDATE: my father just sent me this e-mail... "Apparently there was murder in your grandmother's family but mom says she doesn't want to talk about it." What??