This is my granddad, Robert Forbes, Sr. To me, he was the most precious man in the world. You can see him here with his uncle, Uncle Frank, in the pictures. For me and my siblings, these men along with men on my mother's family tree normalized what love literally looks like. I think that all too often, we hear negative stereotypes about Black men in American society, but the story that my granddad and Uncle Frank wove together for us has helped me understand the story that I discovered about my grandfather's family on his father's side. By digging into history, I was really able to see the legacy that Black men in America worked very hard to leave for us, their offspring, regardless of the conditions of slavery, racism, and injustice. As many people do, I set out to investigate my family heritage a few years ago. I saved my research on Granddad Forbes' family for last because I did not know that I would be able to find much information. Both he and my dad had passed away, and I did not know if I had enough information to do the research. Fortunately, throughout their lifetimes, my granddad and dad had given me so many stories and so much history, that when I began, I was able to discover the amazing story that I am sharing with you now. Granddad's mother died when he was two years old, so his grandmother, his mother's mom, Grandma Sack, took care of him as a child. Even though his mother died, Granddad still had a relationship with his father. However, his dad died when Granddad was in his twenties and my own father was still just a child. Granddad maintained relationships with his siblings, but we never knew as much about that side of the family as we did his mother's side. Uncle Frank was about 10 years old when my granddad came to live with them, and they were really never far apart from each other for the entirety of their lives. My grandfather and Uncle Frank served in the military during World War II. Uncle Frank became a sergeant, and when both of them left the military, they used their skills to get good paying jobs so that they could take care of their families. In this story, I want to highlight the strength, courage, and tenacity of the Black men who brought me to existence on my granddad's father's side of the family. It was an almost lost history, but it is one that must be shared. It paints a fuller picture of the roles Black men play in Black families. Like many of the men throughout all of my family trees, their love is and was evident by the choices that they made. I also want to illuminate their story because dutiful Black men who love their families really isn't a rarity; their stories just don't get enough attention. After leaving the military, my grandfather went to apprentice school and became an aircraft engine mechanic for the United States government. This was about 1947. He experienced racist vitriol on a daily basis, but he always told us that his goal was to take care of his family, and he never quit because of that. I see him in his ancestors, Robert and Isaac Forbes, two very young men who used their military service during the Civil War to make better lives for themselves and consequently, me. Find their story here and go search for your own stories. Researching the past can cause us to uncover some unpleasant things as well as some heroic things, but in the end, when we are able to see a reflection of ourselves in our ancestors' stories, and we can look at their lives within the context of history, we can use their examples to help us make better choices for our own lives.