Riley started this journal late in life, maybe in the 1980s. With some pages, he begins with his age, then he includes not only personal...

As a kid, I called my father "Riley." I was allowed to call my parents by their first names, or Mom and Dad. Sometimes in this blog,...

Years later, when my father died in 2009, I was contacted by Dave Sichak, who wanted to write up an obituary for a Hillbilly music website.

I took a good look at my birth certificate. I wanted to see if my father put his real name down, Riley Shepard. He did not.

If I hadn't submitted my story to the Hidden Brain podcast, I don't think I would have ever been reunited my father's missing boxes again.

I could tell the man was elderly, and there was something in the tone of his voice that overwhelmed me with dread.