OH, THE TIES THAT

bind!  Oh, The Family Reunion!  Reader Dear, I've dawdled away almost an entire week, haven't told you the first thing about the gathering of:
my two sisters,
two brothers,
two sises-in-law,
one husband,
one son,
one daughter,
three nieces,
two nephews,
one daughter-in-law,
one son-in-law,
three grandsons,
one grand-nephew,
one grand-nephew's wife,
one great-grand-nephew,
and one nephew's girlfriend
(Whew! Did I miss anyone?  There were so many idyllic places to hang out at Gladden Fields [It's the name of my brother's farm where we all met for the weekend], one could easily lose count!)

And now for some family details from
The Family Reunion:


One of my nephews slept most of the day, stayed up most of the night.  He accidentally fell into the "plunge pit" during the night. (Plunge pit?! you're asking.   Calm down, Reader Dear, I'll explain later).

One of my little grandsons developed a crush on his once-removed cousin, who is ten years older, and incessantly tagged after her, hoping she'd play with him up in the tree house, or down by the pool, or really just anywhere.

One of my brothers brought all of the pieces of metal for a massive grill and all of the pieces of chicken to put on it.  He played chef (a la Daddy, with his famous recipe).

One of my brothers let us take forays into his fabulous flower gardens and carry away the goods to our hearts' content.  He even brought a ladder to assist us, jars for our bouquets.

One of my sisters happened to have a birthday right then, and had ordered a bang-up celebration (She kindly brought the champagne!)

One of my grand-nephews... oops, one of the wives of …er, the one wife of the one grand grand-nephew made the birthday cake.  And the chocolate cupcakes.  And a (second) chocolate cake. (And, I think she likes to bake!)

One of my sisters made fifty-some candles (I dare not be specific) to circle the birthday cake.



One of my nieces made a terrific flapjack breakfast, standing at the stove while the rest of us, circling the dining room table, woofed down corn fritters (This family's name for pancakes with corn; Mama used to make them) and blueberry pancakes, as fast as she fried them.

One of my brothers pulled corn from his garden…

…ah, Reader Dear, that's where I leave you.  (We'll just be husking corn 'til I can come back)
.  There's so much more to be told, and I've run out of time!

(To Be Continued)

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