Family Reunion I

Cheryl and Pete (Cheryl's dad Jay was son of Looman, one of Frankie and Johnny's 9 sons) in the center welcoming the mob to their farm, with the hay wagon loaded with food. My favorite dish was fruit pizza. Yum.

Every year at the end of June, Don's father's family relations get together for an afternoon at Cheryl and Pete's farm in eastern Michigan. We were there yesterday with 100 people, including distant cousins. These are all descendants of Frankie and Johnny, Don's father's grandparents. Frankie and Johnny had nine sons, including Don's grandpa "Guy." One interesting thing is that Grandpa Guy (who died the first year Don and I were married: 1978), born in 1898, was 6' 5" tall. His sons were tall, but shorter than he. Don's dad is 6'2". Don is 6'. I find it strange and interesting that these men have gotten shorter by generation, which is the opposite of the norm. Our son Peter is 6'1", I believe.

Rob and company letting off balloons for his father (one of Guy's sons), who died last year. This was the first reunion without Uncle Bob, whose favorite color was red.

Peter, son of Cheryl and Pete (not our son Peter, who wasn't there yesterday, nor was our Lesley, who's in NYC) with daughter Lily, asleep to the mob. Peter teaches outdoor subjects at a local grade school, promoting youth ecology, schoolyard lunch gardens, and Native American growing projects for kids. I could have listened to him all day. He lives in a house made of hay. I'm serious. Here is a sample of what he does to promote ecology.

I don't know this little one's name. A distant cousin.


I know their names: Katie and Barb. This is Don's sister Barb who came from Tennessee for a week, and her granddaughter Katie. Katie was swimming in the pond.

Don't know their names

I know his name: Don posed for me on Pete's stone chair. Pete has a landscaping business, and he builds these stone chairs, which are surprisingly comfortable. And they bounce. You can see some of Cheryl's lilies, which grow all over the farm. Oh, I just realized, Cheryl loves lilies, and her baby granddaughter is named Lily!

Next week for the 4th of July we'll do the same with my family - Family Reunion II - but in that case I'm in the "older" generation and the cousins are not distant. I'm guessing there might be 30 people off and on over the course of 5 days at our family cottage.

Don and I come from big families. He's one of six children, I'm one of eight. Sometimes we complain that we are too busy with family activities, especially in the summer. But as Cheryl said yesterday, we're so fortunate to have lots of family members, because some people have no one.