Down Home

Watching the parade - waiting for candy

We enjoyed another Labor Day weekend "down home" for Brian's family reunion. Unlike the last few years, we decided to leave Friday after school and stay the full three nights - coming home on Monday.

It was a nice leisurely weekend with a lot of food and family. I'm sure the video Levi shot of the famous "chicken on bedsprings" totally engulfed in flames will make youtube later this week - I will be sure to post a link when that happens. Aside from the fire and Aunt Pearl's minor medical emergency, it was a pretty uneventful weekend.

The kids always enjoy hooking up with second cousins. This year instead of ultimate frisbee, they played softball. Joel and Caleb were inseparable and everybody got along!

Reading headstones dating back to the Revolutionary War -
moments before this picture I saw Bigfoot go behind a tree.
I am not kidding!! We walked out in the woods for a while to
try to catch another glimpse - didn't see him again.
Really - out of the corner of my eye I saw Bigfoot!!
At least I think I did!

A significant part of the weekend is always spent listening to old family stories - usually while standing over some one's grave in the cemetery. As colorful as it is, I'm glad the kids know their heritage. It's nice to see that even though we only go "down home" once a year, the kids really feel a deep rooted connection there.

Brian standing in front of the church where the family cemetery is located.



One of Brian's relatives who "shot a man for killin' his pa!"
He lived hard and died young.
But I guess there's an old, old lady in the nursing home
who remembers this man helping her when she
was badly hurt as a young girl.
He supposedly rode for help and saved her life.
I think she had a crush on him after that.
Rumor has it that her eyes still light up when she talks about him!

It was a little shocking for me this year to see how frail Brian's aunts and uncles are looking, and there was talk about how Linda (Brian's cousin) was turning 50 this year. The second cousins that were in high school a few years ago are now married and there are a few third cousins now.

All of this reminded me of the Statler Bros. song daddy sings, You Can't Go Home Anymore.

But you can't go home to the good times -
you can't go home anymore
Roy's all crippled up now Kathleen can hardly see
Freddy's off somewhere to fight a war
But you can't go home to the good times -
you can't go home anymore
Everything has changed and who were there to blame
Gone far that you just can't go home

Time marches on and time changes everything. This year, I think, really brought home the realization that the face of the reunion is changing - a new generation is coming up and the older generation one by one is going home to be with the Lord.