A review by teenage_reads
The Milkman's Son: A Memoir of Family History. a DNA Mystery. a Story of Paternal Love. by Randy Lindsay
3.0
Plot:
Due to the different nature as a youth, and his dark hair compared to his sibling's fair hair, Randy was nicknamed “the milkman’s son” insinuating that his father was not his biological father. Being the oldest of his siblings, Randy took their jokes and mockery of him, and carried it into adulthood, never really stopping to think why he looked so different from his siblings. After all, he was no genealogist but a writer and preferred to live in his world of make-believe than to learn more about the real one. When his father asked him to start the great Lindsey Quest, trying to find out where their family came from, Randy was intrigued by this mystery, and with one click signed up for Ansestory.com. Spending hours tracking his family down, Randy spent months at this project, while doing daily life of book meetings and transportation of children. Looking at the male line, Randy did a DNA test to see which part of Europe his family is from, to narrow down his search for those with the last name Lindsay. What he was not expecting were the results he got back. Thinking there was a mistake, his DNA showed that there was no Lindsay blood in him. Getting a message from this New Jersey girl named Tammy, who claims she is his sister, Randy cannot lie that he and Mr. Petrauschke look identical, and the matching lips do not lie. His Lindsey siblings thought this was hilarious, and so does the man he grew up calling Dad. This news did not change his siblings' mind about him, as Dad said: “you are still my son” (69), Randy just has to accept that he gained more family than he could ever hope for. Gaining connections to his family in New Jersey, Randy experiences a moment that is one in a lifetime. At the ripe age of 57, he meets his father, the man he shares 50% of his DNA with, 3 siblings, and a whole bunch of cousins and nieces, that he never knew existed.
Thoughts:
Where did you come from, is perhaps one of the bigger questions people have in life. What better way to capture this monumental moment in his life, than write it in a book. Randy Lindsay, already an author, wrote this memoir of finding out his dad was not his dad after all. Taking place over a time span of just over a year, Lindsay gives us a detailed account of doing the DNA test, finding out about his father, meeting him and his New Jersey family for the first time, and telling everyone in Arizona this wild news. At age 57, with a strong sense of what family is, this news completely shocked Lindsay, despite him knowing that he did not look like any of his other siblings. Appropriately titled after his childhood nickname, Lindsay wrote this book in a personal narrative, which made it flow nicely, and timed it perfectly, as the months passed by in only a few pages. Although like most memoirs it is a slow read, and there is not a lot of “excitement” to it as you would find in a fictional novel. It must be an age thing, but it is hard to believe that his father did not care and that his mother refused to talk about it. As pointed out by his siblings, his father probably always suspected it about him, but was an amazing, caring man, calling the child that he expected was not his own and raised him as he did his blood. Why does his mom refuse to talk about it, who knows? Lindsay said he did not want to push his mother, and rock their relationship, guess it is just another cliffhanger that books (and life) leave, with the reader (and person) always questioning why. Overall, this book was a stellar example of non-fiction DNA family drama story, and how more family is never bad.
Due to the different nature as a youth, and his dark hair compared to his sibling's fair hair, Randy was nicknamed “the milkman’s son” insinuating that his father was not his biological father. Being the oldest of his siblings, Randy took their jokes and mockery of him, and carried it into adulthood, never really stopping to think why he looked so different from his siblings. After all, he was no genealogist but a writer and preferred to live in his world of make-believe than to learn more about the real one. When his father asked him to start the great Lindsey Quest, trying to find out where their family came from, Randy was intrigued by this mystery, and with one click signed up for Ansestory.com. Spending hours tracking his family down, Randy spent months at this project, while doing daily life of book meetings and transportation of children. Looking at the male line, Randy did a DNA test to see which part of Europe his family is from, to narrow down his search for those with the last name Lindsay. What he was not expecting were the results he got back. Thinking there was a mistake, his DNA showed that there was no Lindsay blood in him. Getting a message from this New Jersey girl named Tammy, who claims she is his sister, Randy cannot lie that he and Mr. Petrauschke look identical, and the matching lips do not lie. His Lindsey siblings thought this was hilarious, and so does the man he grew up calling Dad. This news did not change his siblings' mind about him, as Dad said: “you are still my son” (69), Randy just has to accept that he gained more family than he could ever hope for. Gaining connections to his family in New Jersey, Randy experiences a moment that is one in a lifetime. At the ripe age of 57, he meets his father, the man he shares 50% of his DNA with, 3 siblings, and a whole bunch of cousins and nieces, that he never knew existed.
Thoughts:
Where did you come from, is perhaps one of the bigger questions people have in life. What better way to capture this monumental moment in his life, than write it in a book. Randy Lindsay, already an author, wrote this memoir of finding out his dad was not his dad after all. Taking place over a time span of just over a year, Lindsay gives us a detailed account of doing the DNA test, finding out about his father, meeting him and his New Jersey family for the first time, and telling everyone in Arizona this wild news. At age 57, with a strong sense of what family is, this news completely shocked Lindsay, despite him knowing that he did not look like any of his other siblings. Appropriately titled after his childhood nickname, Lindsay wrote this book in a personal narrative, which made it flow nicely, and timed it perfectly, as the months passed by in only a few pages. Although like most memoirs it is a slow read, and there is not a lot of “excitement” to it as you would find in a fictional novel. It must be an age thing, but it is hard to believe that his father did not care and that his mother refused to talk about it. As pointed out by his siblings, his father probably always suspected it about him, but was an amazing, caring man, calling the child that he expected was not his own and raised him as he did his blood. Why does his mom refuse to talk about it, who knows? Lindsay said he did not want to push his mother, and rock their relationship, guess it is just another cliffhanger that books (and life) leave, with the reader (and person) always questioning why. Overall, this book was a stellar example of non-fiction DNA family drama story, and how more family is never bad.