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The good news is that I got them loaded. The bad news is that these may be the last pictures you ever see out of my camera. I dropped it in the toilet! (Don't ask -- too stupid!) I took the memory stick out and the battery and have left it to dry. Let's hope for the best.
Lots of things going on, comings and goings. Eric rode in yesterday on his bicycle
I just loaded a bunch of photos on, but I don't know where they are!?!?! (Maybe Rae can help me reload them when she gets back. She and Eric are out for the evening.)
Anyway, the rest of the weekend (and it is only half over). . . I gave Rae her wig-hat for her birthday. And Louis Burns got married. Oh, and Grampa is going to be moved to another nursing home on Tuesday. This is a good thing. The VA where he has been is only a temporary stop; stays are supposed to be for up to a month and he has been there for 4 or 5. The home that Gramma found takes VA vouchers, so economically it will work for them and it is no farther than the VA currently is from Gramma.
Rae-Rae is going to be 25 on the 25th! Happy B'day, Rae. And a memorable one it was, too! At least, I remember it! Uncle Philippe was so proud of the part he played in it. I think he thought of you as almost his own.
They say that time flies when you are having fun. Truth is, it goes by pretty quickly even if you aren’t enjoying yourself all that much. What triggers these thoughts?
Tomorrow is the Baloun Family Reunion. The first one was 18 years ago in 1987. Andrew was just a baby at the first one; this year he graduated from high school. Mendon was a toddler; this year he is getting married. As I look over the series of photos that we took each year, you can see the footprints of time as it marched across our faces. Gramma started out as the energetic young grandmother and organizing force behind these get-togethers and has become the stooped, respected and cosseted elder of the family; still witty and loving and sharp, but no longer able to keep up physically.
There are those who are no longer with us and those who have joined us and those whose have weaved in and out as their lives moved. Cousin Rob. Matthew, Nina, and Andrew. Amy, Jaci, Jessica and Leah. Andrew and Chris, Zayn and Rahmat. Grampa won’t be there tomorrow, nor will Aunt Marcie. They were both there last year. It was the last year for them.
It is a bittersweet memory to think of the passage of those years. The reason that we started these was because the family was growing too big to fit in anyone’s house for Thanksgiving or Christmas. (Too many children!) Plus as new families were forming and babies were being born, these new families wanted to spend their holidays in their own homes. So we invented the summer family reunion. At one point we had up to 37 people. Not all of them were there each time, but we used to be a big group. Tomorrow I expect about 25.
I suppose that isn’t bad, but I guess I am missing my crew. Of my children, only Mendon -- not even ‘and Kristen’ – will be there. I know they live far away and it isn’t reasonable to expect them to come, but I still feel sad. I was thinking about why and I think it is because I am so proud of my children. I will miss having the family make a fuss over my kids and being able to brag on them. Oh, I will still brag on them, but it would be nice if my kids could hear me brag on them.
But I suppose I should put this in perspective. After all, the last Dean Family Reunion was 19 years ago. I figure if we have one next year and another in 20 years, I will only have to plan two more.