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Perfect moment: roots and branches

In the Fall of 1932, Fay married “Cap” in western Nebraska. They began together a simple but rough life as farm people. They had three children, who had children, who had children.

And 303 seasons later, their 27 surviving descendants are gathered in a reunion cabin in the mountains of Colorado. We come from Arizona, California, Colorado, Ohio and Oregon.

Cappie died right before Tessa was born, in 2001. Grandma died in 2005.

Their children include my mom and her two brothers. There are two spouses, one being my dad.

My generation includes my two sisters and me, plus three surviving cousins and one who is with us in spirit. Among us, we have five spouses.

The newest generation consists of Tessa and Reed, Dominic, three of their cousins, and five of my cousins’ children.

As I exclude myself from the activities to document the morning, I see a group working on a 2000 piece puzzle of the Vegas Strip. I did the hard part (of course) earlier and now they are merely filling in. Slackers.

My cousins are preparing apple-sausage crisp. Smelling good. My cousin Debora has just chimed the 5 minute alert. Salivary glands are activated.

I am delighted that our children are playing so well together, in spite of a very late night of sing-alongs and a very early morning of mountain sunlight. There is quite a buzz among the kids about the bear that got into our garbage last night (despite the tite-lock bin) and left paw prints on each of our cars (luckily no damage).

I am supremely happy.

(See this post from last year’s mini-reunion of my immediate family, if your are the odd interested sort who loves other peoples’ pictures.)

20 Responses

  1. I love getting together with my extended family too (especially my mom’s relatives). Enjoy your reunion!

  2. Hi Lori,I love knowing more about you — and the spread of that family tree — its so miraculous isn’t it? I think its beautiful.XOPam

  3. ..”thats what it’s all about!”…:o)(sorry, I couldn’t help myself and yes, now it’s stuck in my head, too)

  4. Hi Lori,I love knowing more about you — and the spread of that family tree — its so miraculous isn’t it? I think its beautiful.XOPam

  5. ..”thats what it’s all about!”…:o)(sorry, I couldn’t help myself and yes, now it’s stuck in my head, too)

  6. Yep, the hormones are out of control. Your post made me cry. Such a beautiful picture-both the one of Fay and Cap and the picture you’ve painted with your words.

  7. ACK! A bear! How exciting from the safety of the indoors. I love that photo by the way, what a beautiful image for your family to share.

  8. If I remember correctly, while I did the hard part of the puzzle, you were busy drinking a Mojito. 🙂My kids are talking about doing it again next year. They are having SO much fun!We have a very special family indeed. I wonder what our kids will be saying at the family reunion in 30 years! Hopefully we’ll be there to participate.

  9. Funny. One of my coworkers is at a reunion in Colorado this week. But they are from North Carolina, so I guess it’s not the same family. What a wonderful family you have. Enjoy!

  10. Sounds like great fun all around!We have been warned here, too, to look out for those bears. They’re savvy creatures where anything food-like is concerned.

  11. How nice that you get to spend some family time. We will drive up to Rochester next week to introduce Lilli to my husband’s family and to say goodbye to everyone before we leave…

  12. Sheri’s LYING, everyone. *I* did all the heavy lifting on the puzzle. So WHAT if I had a mojito in my hand.In 30 years, we can hope our kids will be doing all the cooking and cleaning!

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