A few weeks back I had the opportunity to learn a bit about my ancestry from my grandfather. It made for an intriguing story.

Francis Louis Link was my great-grandfather. He lived in Ohio with his wife and son during prohibition times. He was a bootlegger, running a cover for a speakeasy selling alcohol from Canada. He lived in comfort and wealth for sometime until things started going wrong. Whether it was that the money was running dry or that the police were close to uncovering his establishment is uncertain, but while my grandfather was only 8, Francis Louis shot himself in the head.

Not exactly an uplifting story at face value, but as I said before, intriguing. Knowing my grandfather, and my father and his siblings, and myself and my siblings and cousins, its amazing for me to see all the family that has come into being despite the tragedy in my grandfather’s youth.

Upon hearing the story I made the mental note that this story needed to be a song. It felt like a it already could have been. I’ve it finished now, with a feeling of a traditional folk song of sorts. It’s exhilarating to create something in the name of my family’s legacy.