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How would George describe the childhood he received, in his own words, and what parts of it did he consciously want to reproduce or avoid when he became a father?
The questions that remain deliberately outside the published narrative. They are prompts for interviews, archival work and manuscript verification — not conclusions.
Scenes, dates, objects, places, remembered language and documented records are more useful than agreement with a premise. Uncertainty remains visible; family memory is identified as memory; interpretation does not silently become fact.
How would George describe the childhood he received, in his own words, and what parts of it did he consciously want to reproduce or avoid when he became a father?
Was there anything about Robert Davies — or about Robert and Donna’s home — that influenced the kind of husband or father George wanted to be? Ask this neutrally; do not assume the influence was conscious.
What specific moments did George and Robert share one-on-one: work around the house, sports, meals, drives, holidays, advice, arguments, jokes, practical help, or quiet time together?
What does Brenda remember about Robert’s view of George as a boyfriend, husband, and eventually father? Did Robert ever say anything about him directly?
What does Greg remember about George’s parenting that Brian may have experienced differently? Look for both shared patterns and differences between the two sons.
What did stability actually look like in the Lefebvre household day to day — routines, meals, school, sports, money, discipline, affection, conflict, vacations, home projects, expectations, and the way mistakes were handled?
Were there identifiable moments when George made a conscious choice not to repeat something from his own upbringing? If so, what happened, and how did he describe that decision at the time?
How did George understand responsibility and masculinity when he was young? Who, besides Robert, supplied examples — positive or negative — of what a man, husband, or father could be?
What does George remember about attending Central High School? Georgette directly remembers that Central was a short walk from home; she believes St. Patrick’s still charged tuition that their parents could not afford. Can George confirm, correct, or complicate either point?
What were George’s own school years like — close friends, sports, jobs, favourite teachers, academic strengths, trouble, ambitions, and responsibilities at home?
Did George notice or think about the contrast between Robert attending St. Patrick’s and his own attendance at Central?
How did George experience Brian’s movement away from the conventional life Brian had once appeared to be building?
What are the small George stories the family tells repeatedly — jokes, habits, repairs, drives, acts of protection, generosity, temper, stubbornness, tenderness, or rituals that reveal character without explanation?
Which photographs, letters, school records, employment records, objects, or home videos best show George before he became “Dad”?
Can the family establish a firmer chronology for Robert’s childhood movement from Montreal to Halifax to Sarnia, including addresses, schools and approximate move dates?
Why does Robert’s seaman’s discharge book make him a year older than the church register? Is there evidence that the age was deliberately altered for employment, or should the discrepancy remain unresolved?
Can anyone corroborate Brenda’s recollection that Captain Ted arranged Robert’s summer tanker work and that Robert would rather have been playing baseball?
What baseball teams, leagues, positions, seasons, teammates, statistics or newspaper clippings can be identified for Robert before, during and after the tanker summers?
How was St. Patrick’s High School financed in Robert’s years there? This may be useful context when contrasted cautiously with Georgette’s later recollection about George and Central High.
What did Robert himself ever say about Captain Ted as a father? Look for remembered language, not retrospective interpretation.
What did Robert’s daughters experience as his characteristic way of disciplining, encouraging, apologizing, showing affection, handling money and welcoming their friends?
Are there post-1955 records or family memories that more precisely bridge the gap between Robert leaving the ships and the adult life his grandchildren knew?
Who cared for Ted after the deaths of his parents, and where was he living during the still-missing years before his merchant career can be firmly documented?
Can Ted Jr. or other relatives identify stories Robert heard directly from Captain Ted about convoy service, U-boats, ships lost, wartime fear or command responsibility?
What was Captain Ted like at home after the war? Which behaviours are directly remembered by children and grandchildren, and which are later interpretations?
What evidence can more precisely connect particular ships commanded by Ted with specific wartime convoys or routes already identified in the Imperial Oil material?
Confirm the chronology of the RMC-to-Victoria transition, the 2001 course, the first night with Sean Horlor, and the sequence of the summer that followed. Preserve uncertainty where dates are reconstructed rather than documented.
Have Blair review the Sean material for factual accuracy, tone, and anything important Brian has forgotten or misremembered. Treat Blair as a corroborating witness, not as authority over Sean’s interior life.
Confirm names and spellings for the Victoria / chosen-family sequence and identify which photographs best anchor each person and period.
Can the HMCS Kingston near-Cornwall incident be anchored more precisely by date, ship movement records, personal records, photographs or another crew member’s recollection?
What does George remember about driving Brian to London to pick up the Rocky Mountain bicycle? Is there a date, shop, model, photograph, receipt or family memory that can make that detail more concrete?
Which parts of Brian’s pre-coming-out “successful son” performance were visible to Brenda, George, Greg, RMC friends or school friends at the time, and which existed only internally?
Are there scenes involving George in Brian’s coming-out years that belong in the eventual George story even if they would overburden In the Wake now?
For every family photograph used in the web version, confirm date range, location, left-to-right identifications, photographer/source when known, and whether the image is original or a later colourization/crop.
Flag every caption that contains an estimate such as circa, probably or believed to be, and keep the uncertainty visible rather than silently converting it into fact.
Keep a short provenance note for each quoted family recollection: who supplied it, when, whether it was direct memory, and whether another relative corroborated or challenged it.
Maintain a list of claims that are narrative interpretation rather than documentary fact — especially generational parallels — so later revisions do not accidentally harden hypotheses into assertions.