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| 1955 at Lottie Baggett home |
Family
reunions have always been the highlight of the summer. We always looked forward
to them and couldn’t wait until our relatives arrived and cried when they had
to go back to their homes. It is still that way in our family. Brothers,
sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and especially grandparents make you feel loved
and highly respected, no matter your age or circumstances. That’s just the way
it is. I don’t recall any major squabbles or division of “them versus us”.
After
listening to families who can’t say that about their reunions, it makes you
wonder why ours is always such a joyous occasion.
Possible
reasons that come to mind include:
l
We
were taught that if you can’t say something good, then just listen!
l
Hard
times brought our family together much like war buddies. We looked out for one
another.
l
But
maybe the most important reason with Polly’s kids was “Gayle’s coming! Gayle’s
coming home!”
Like Polly,
Gayle left home early and moved so far away. Everyone marked the dates she
would be here, even brother C. A. who lives in Illinois. We all did our best to
get home to see Gayle.
Now that times are better for all of us, it’s still
hard on our pocketbooks and aging bones but when it does happen, we celebrate
and treasure every moment we’re together.
Thank you
to those who drove so far to come to this year’s reunion. Thank you to those
who opened their doors and hosted the reunion in Kentucky.
Paul’s
granddaughter Syra poses in front of Sid’s deer camp at the farm. Sidney shows
off his modern amenities inside his camp. His camp is located so deep in the
woods that it can’t be seen on Google map via satellite. We joked that we felt
like we were in the rain forest.
We gathered
at the camp every afternoon to start cooking that day’s supper that included
wild game, fresh produce from the garden and a wild assortment of homemade
items from canned okra pickles to pickled garlic. Fresh pears and apples were
used to make some yummy desserts.
Family
reunions always involve lots of remembering and stories told by some of the
country’s best storytellers. (More stories for Ozark Malarkey perhaps.) After
supper everyone moved to Jo Nell’s resort to sit by the campfire and try to top
the last story with even a funnier one. Did you know a giant rabbit lives at
her place?
Admiring
the beautiful Moon Glory blossoms made us remember how much Polly loved them.
Everyday she would go out and wait for the big event - the final unfurling that
released the petals in a burst of perfect beauty. But it was more than that. It
held special significance to Polly and her sister Ruth.
It was Ruth
who first read Jetta Carleton’s book “The Moonflower Vine” and introduced it to
Polly. I can still remember hearing Ruth say “This story was written about us I think!
It sounds just like our family reunions.”
(Description from Amazon)
On a
farm in western Missouri during the first half of the twentieth century,
Matthew and Callie Soames create a life for themselves and raise four
headstrong daughters. Jessica will break their hearts. Leonie will fall in love
with the wrong man. Mary Jo will escape to New York. And wild child Mathy's
fate will be the family's greatest tragedy. Over the decades they will love,
deceive, comfort, forgive—and, ultimately, they will come to cherish all the
more fiercely the bonds of love that hold the family together.
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