Thread: First person narrative with references to parent

When using the first person narrative, and you have siblings, is it OK to use "my father" instead of "our father"? Would there be any reason to use one over the other?

EDIT: My thinking is it's OK. But I am editing the life story of the writer's recently deceased father. Since the story will be published in our church newsletter (and etched permanently in time, so to speak), I wanted to make sure I do it right.

I dunno... is it imperative that you use the same phrase to denote you and your siblings' dad in each case? If the answer to that is "no" (as in "no it's not imperative") then I would call him "Dad" (or whatever you called him) in some places, "my dad/father/old man" in other places, and maybe "our dad/father/old man" if the scene or narration involved the siblings--for clarity, right?

I hope that helps.

Originally Posted by Scarlett_156

I dunno... is it imperative that you use the same phrase to denote you and your siblings' dad in each case? If the answer to that is "no" (as in "no it's not imperative") then I would call him "Dad" (or whatever you called him) in some places, "my dad/father/old man" in other places, and maybe "our dad/father/old man" if the scene or narration involved the siblings--for clarity, right?

I hope that helps.

Yes -- I mean no it's not imperative. In fact, several passages were personal recollections of the writer with her father alone. So it would be awkward to refer to her father as "our father".

I think "imperative" is the most important part of your advice. Thank you, thank you.