Mom’s BBQ Day

    

First, let me digress for a moment…..found two pictures which I thought were lost of us arriving.  I had just missed Bubba licking Arny’s face…the first time he ever licked Arny’s face.  One has to wonder who is happier?

   

Well, these three pictures above capture the heart of the BBQ.  Lots of relatives, lots of food, lots of conversations, lots of fun.

Here is a personal shot…. me on the left, brother Roger in middle, brother Bob to the right, cousin Bill background left, cousin Donald background right.  Of the five….I am the youngest.    (One thing about getting old…when you are the youngest, everyone else is now envious of your age.)

But here are the real babies of the family…Sister Sandy to the left, Patty to the right, Sandy’s husband Arny in the background.  It is also the workforce of the BBQ, although at the moment these two were just tasting some of the luscious deserts. 

  

And here is dad with sister Patty (left picture) with mom and cousin Richard (right picture) 

    

Son Michael and daughter Stephanie playing before the BBQ, and Michael, Stephanie, myself and Marcia.

And Aunt Florence pointing someone out to her oldest daughter Cynthia, with my daughter Stephanie walking by.  How she raised these nine kids (yes, nine because Uncle Leroy was always a child at heart), what a lady Aunt Flo is.

It was a good time for all.  Wish some were able to come who didn’t, like our oldest brother Jim and wife Carol who live in Texas, Cousin Barbara who lives in Italy, Cousin Lee who just could not make it. Some of my parents Grandchildren, like my son Ryan who lives in Arkansas, just couldn't make it either.  And to think…. other than my cousin Donald, who is on my mother’s side, this is just my dad’s side of the family!  He had one older brother, who we all miss so very much.  Cousin Bill is a splitting image of Uncle Leroy, so in a sense, he was there too.  Had this been my mom’s side of the family, being one of eleven children (one of which died in WW2), the backyard would not have been large enough.  But as a child and in my youth, we had a few of those reunions too…now precious memories in our hearts, as yesterday’s BBQ now is.  And in case anyone was wondering….it was well worth the long, hard drive.