Extended Family Members Visited – Uncountable, but includes 4 generations
It was quite a month! Phil and I went on a quick “log cabin tour” because we bought a log cabin in Williamsport, built in 1789, and we’re figuring out what to do with it. Next, I picked up my parents in Virginia and we all traveled to a family reunion in Michigan, with family stops before and after. Finally, we flew to Kansas to help Phil’s mom celebrate her 90th birthday. We screeched back into town about 3:00 Wednesday morning, and my days since then have been filled with laundry and cleaning. Ben is back to his regular schedule and Phil is doing Phil things.
Our most pressing need upon returning was figuring out meals. When we return from a trip in the summer, my mind always goes straight towards produce, especially fruit, so we have peaches, blackberries, watermelon, and cherries to fill out the meals we come up with. Corn and tomatoes seem to be working their way into most meals too. This week is not about innovation; we need the old standbys. Here’s what’s on the docket:
Our cabin has endured since 1789!My first classroom (just kidding.) Teaching is all about endurance.With my parents before Aunt Bertha’s memorial service. My mom endures, though she has now lost all nine of her siblings.My mom and 5 of her nieces, several of whom sport Aunt Bertha’s dresses from her life in Africa, an enduring legacy.My dad stands beside his artwork that is on display at their retirement home. Some sculptures I grew up with; the flowers (lower right) were made from spent shell casings in response to Sandy Hook, one for each victim.Back to the salt mines! Cousins pose in the salt mine rail car 650 feet below the Earth’s surface in Hutchinson, Kansas.Oh, give me a home…Ben’s uncle Rachid.In the clink at Cowtown.Most of Phil’s family outside Carolyn’s Essenhaus in Arlington, Kansas. Though my cousin sold it, another cousin still works there.My relationship with my college roommate endures. The wind and heat in Kansas endure. Her home endures. Cindy lives in the home she grew up in and that I remember well from 42 years ago. While visiting her and Jeff Monday (and seeing her dad, children, and grandchildren) she showed me video tapes of our first meeting and one of my parents taken maybe a year later. I only knew my dad by his voice. There he walked across the camera’s view, easy-peasy, upright, like moving was the easiest thing. There I was, horsing around, picking him up and tossing him about a bit. He laughed a young man’s laugh and said, “Capture this abuse on camera!” The Marquis de Lafayette and I toast you, America, on your 250th birthday. Long may our democracy endure!
