Dear Mom

Dear Mom,

Dad and I went to the family reunion at the cabin this weekend!  It was so much fun to see cousins, play board games, laugh until I cried, and enjoy the beauty that is nature.

Like every year past, we saw a deer.  A buck, to be precise, with four points on his antlers.  Phil claims he lives under the porch.  When we arrived on Saturday, it was pouring buckets--the dirt road was purely mud and rocks--and this buck was standing in the trees to the South, munching on some grass as the rain continued to soak his coat.  He was beautiful.

In ways, I wish you could have been there this year.  Jenny and Jared came up from California and brought little Eric.  Eric was ADORABLE with his stormy blue eyes and charming 14-month-old smile.  Jenny was looking really good and I was able to spend quite a bit of time with Jared playing games with Nikki and Katie.  I haven't really been around him much before, but he acts like a little kid in a 40-year-old body!  He had such a good sense of humor and really played off of Katie and Nikki's bantering with him.  It was fun to watch, and we shared many laughs late into the night on Saturday.

In other ways, I am glad you weren't able to come this year.  You would have been so disappointed with how few actually were able to make it due to extenuating circumstances (only 28 out of the 60 or so that should have been there).  And not all 28 stayed (having small children makes that a little difficult and understandable).  It's hard to believe how our family is spreading out now that everyone is moving on with their lives and there are more and more extenuating circumstances.  Only two of my cousins around my age were able to make it: Landen and Mike.  However, I felt they were much older than I was seeing as they are married and have children of their own.  Even though Landen is younger than I am by several years, I still feel he was older.  Alex is pregnant again, with a little girl this time.

In many ways, I felt like the "odd-man" out this year.  I felt squished between those who were married with families of their own and the 15-year-olds.  I felt out of place in a lot of ways, especially since I have memories of running around with Brad, Corey, Alex, and Colby at these family reunions... all who were only slightly older than myself, but at those reunions I felt like I was the same age.  How I did miss them at the cabin this year.  Even Bree wasn't there, but that is understandable since she is serving the Lord.  Next year she will be back.  Despite this feeling of being isolated, I still enjoyed the cabin very much this year!  The laughs and the time I shared with my cousins was highly enjoyable and I have fond memories to look back on (like several of the men trying to figure out how to blow a special kind of dog-whistle--looking constipated and very out of breath for most of it--all thanks to Dave).

The majority of people were only there for the dutch oven dinner on Saturday (cooked by Dave and Callie) and the Fishpond.  Of course, there were only about 10 kids who participated (Katie being the oldest).  As I watched this fourth generation doing a tradition I was raised on, I wondered how many years Grandma and Grandpa had been doing this.  The bucket is no longer pink, like it was when I was little, but the tradition continues to live on.  Later, I found out they had been doing the Fishpond every year for 27 years... Can you believe it?  Such a fun family tradition that is older than I am!

Traditions.  I can't help but think of you when I hear that word.  I think of how you loved traditions such as these, and how you emphasized their importance to me.  I have fond memories of the traditions you have shared with me and I have you to thank for them.

I look forward to traditions for my own children.  Dad and I have talked of a few.  Unfortunately, we won't have big reunions with my kids like I have been blessed to have with your side of the family.  Being an only child has that effect, but that's alright!  I will create new traditions with my children involving "Grandpa" and I hope they will cherish those memories as I have cherished mine.

You have set the standard high for expectations of traditions.  I hope some day I will be able to catch a shadow of the legacy you have left for your daughter.

Thank you.

With all my love,
Melissa