My Mom and one of her brothers (her other brother lives in Nebraska and did not attend) They are the remnant of 12 brothers and sisters. My Mom is 2nd born and Uncle Al pictured was born 9th and Uncle Kenny was born 12th.
It was a good day with way too much food...they are a bunch of good cooks!
Uncle Al shared that when I was born he was seven years old. My Grandmother birthed twins two months after I was born so there were three babies in the house that winter (My Dad was in Korea). Grandma or my Mom would holler for Al to come and rock babies to sleep. He said most often he was at the woodpile with his brother Butch splitting wood when the call rang out from the house. Butch would be disgusted that his helper had to leave... Al he would warm up by the stove and then rock babies sometimes two at a time. He recalls rocking babies was much better than chopping wood.
Since I am the oldest Grandchild and the cousins closer to my age were not at the reunion it was a bit strange. I did have a good visit with several younger cousins. The cousins that I grew up with were not there (Max, Diane, La Rae, Linda) only one was there Vickie....the rest were all my other baby brothers age or younger. But I do recall when their mothers were pregnant with them....strange perspective I know.
We stayed as long as we could, the perfume and aftershave were intense even outside. Far Guy was struggling and felt like his lungs were burned. Sadly he still feels that way many hours later...one of the many reasons we rarely go out in public.
Far Side
I continue to pray that the call will come through that the hospital has a lung or lungs for him. I know you and all your family are doing the same. Glad you were able to stay for a while at the reunion.
ReplyDeleteAw, I think fewer people are wearing scents, but those who are wear way too much!
ReplyDeleteTake care.
It's too bad your visiting had to be shortened because of the scents. Definitely hoping that the call for the transplant comes soon.
ReplyDeleteI love the story about rocking the babies. Children from large families grew up helping out whenever they could.
ReplyDeleteGlad it was a good day, though sorry Far Guy is suffering from the outing.
ReplyDeleteThat's a sweet image, of him rocking two babies at once. So sorry to hear that even outdoors FG suffered. Soon, I hope. Soon. :-(
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing about your Uncle rocking babies. Families seemed to be so much closer back then. My MIL's family was the same. She is from a family of 16! She has several aunts and uncles much YOUNGER than she is. That always seemed really strange to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you had time with your family but sorry to hear that Far Guy suffered so. Praying for a transplant sooner rather than later.
Blessings,
Betsy
Those were great baby rocking memories! You have some generational overlapping, but that's common in large families. Too bad they didn't tell people not to wear scents.
ReplyDeleteI’m with Uncle Al — I’d rather rock babies than split firewood, although i have done both. We had family reunions on my dad’s side when I was a kid but not anymore. Not on my mom’s side though. They all practically lived at each other’s houses all the time and didn’t need any special reunion to get together! Poor FG, but I am glad he was able to go for a little while anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful family gathering. I'm sorry Far Guy had problems with the scents. It's too bad people don't understand the problems that can cause. I hope he feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that your family gets together. We stopped having family reunions years ago and I miss them. We have a reunion of sorts here on the 4th of July... it's my favorite holiday because of that. Even though you couldn't stay long I'm glad you got to go for a while. Hope that by now Far Guy's lungs are feeling much better.
ReplyDeleteCute story about rocking babies!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about all the scents in the air. Around this town, we smell cigarette smoke very strong on many shoppers.
God bless you both. We pray everyday. xoxo
It's a little strange when the generations are not spaced the way they are supposed to be. My youngest brother is 15 years younger.
ReplyDeleteFamily gatherings are awesome, we have them often
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a fun reunion but so sorry to hear about poor far guy. So hard to get away from the smelly colognes and perfumes. I stopped wearing that stuff years ago and now with my chemo, I can barely stand ANY smell. Hope far guy will feel much better soon. Take care you two.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great get-together ( except for the fragrance problem which people just don't get). Three babies in the house must have been quite the noisy situation. Your uncle must have had the gift of settling a baby ( or two) down. Great memories.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that your mother and her older brother, the two oldest of 12 kids, are two of the four still surviving. Your grandmother was a busy woman, raising 12 kids back then, with grandchildren coming along as well. Wow.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom is the oldest. She has two brothers remaining and herself.
DeleteWhat a great stories you have about your family. It as not uncommon back then to have the large families and years between the youngest and the oldest. My Mother was the baby and 20 years younger than her oldest brother but they were close.
ReplyDeleteSo n ice to be able to get together like that. I hope Far Guy recovers from it all.
I didn’t have the same kind of family structure but I did find myself growing up with my oldest first cousin’s kids. I keep forgetting that they are not first cousins and the roughly remind me they are not first cousins. I had forgotten your dad was in Korea. History seems to scatter through all of our families that had major things that affected our country. Mondays seem to be my day off even though I do some odd chores. Weed eating takes place today too.
ReplyDeleteReunions do get more precious to us as we get older. I'm the oldest cousin on my mom's side and have only met once some of the younger ones. They didn't come to Minnesota and I didn't get out to Washington state. I've never seen one whole family group as adults as I was grown up and they were little kids the only time we ever were together.
ReplyDeleteHow nice! none of my parents gemeratopm nor any of my first cousins...
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