Road Trip

Two of my cousins lost their mom last week. The generation in our family that I belong to has been very fortunate to have had long lived parents, aunts and uncles. They afforded us a view of the places and times they lived first hand and in living color. Ours like most families is made of very different personalities and experiences that gives each generation and every individual connected to us a rich set of histories to draw on when we need it. Our "bunch" has a lot of "independent" souls and more than a few mavericks. But, we have a strong sense of family ties on both sides of every branch of the family bush. We came together Wednesday to honor aunt Audie by sharing our memories of her and those ties among the people she loved. My sisters and I made a road trip out of it by visiting towns and home sites where most of our grandparents, parents aunts uncles and cousins grew up. We took pictures recorded oral histories and visited museums and did some shopping. All of which our kids will have to sort through some day. We all came together for Audie's service. Her memory was strong there. The service reflected her personality by the way we seemed to act as if she was there and in on every conversation. Good job aunt Audie! We left the service and drifted on over to Rodger's place to visit and mix and carry on like we always do. On the way, we checked the cemetery for the rest of the kin laid there. It looks like they're still right where we put 'em. A bunch of that got recorded too. More hours and hours of family evidence for future generations to deal with. The technologies today will make it virtually impossible for our kids and future generations to deny where they came from. Ha! Now I return you to your regularly scheduled programming in progress.