Fine Art America

Monday, October 8, 2012

Good times at family reunions

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.

http://www.amazon.com/Moonflower-Vine-Novel-P-S/dp/0061673234