Aunt Alma brought us together.

Yesterday I was at the Mellinger Mennonite Church near Lancaster to remember and honor my aunt Alma Brackbill, my mom's younger sister.  As I arrived I realized that everywhere I turned there were cousins and more cousins!  I'm sure that the fact it was held on a Saturday made it possible for more of us to be there.  Some of us counted and decided that out of the original ten siblings in our parents' generation, there are 42 cousins.  And of those, 23 of us were there yesterday.  I suggested we get a cousin picture, and it happened before the meal that was served afterward.  Here we are!  We will TREASURE this picture!

I did some searching in my "old pictures" file and came across this picture of the original ten Myers siblings!  I don't know the year it was taken, but I know it had to be before 1979 when my aunt Esther  passed away.

I cropped the picture for a better look at their faces, because I know my cousins will be interested in seeing this.  Left to right:  Elmer, Anna, John, Esther, Paul, Bob, Mabel (my mom), Earl, Alma, Lloyd.  Their mother died when Lloyd and Earl were just two and four years old respectively.  Through the years older sisters took care of younger brothers.  There are so many stories, some we are even now hearing for the first time.

Lloyd and Earl, pictured below in September with Earl's wife Irene and sister Alma, are the only two siblings remaining now.

Alma and her husband Norman (who passed away in 2009 just weeks before my dad did) had two children, Joanne and Ken.  They were just eighteen months apart and right near my age.  I remember especially going to their house, a rancher with a big cement-floor basement, and learning to roller skate.  I thought that basement was the greatest thing in the world!

I had not been to that house in many years, when our son Jeremy was working for Blinds to Go in 2002.  He told me that he had gotten an order for drapes (or blinds - I really don't remember) for a big picture window from a lady that he discovered was my aunt Alma.  He was planning to go to her house to install it and wondered if I would like to go along.  So I did!  I loved the chance to see that beloved house again and to see Aunt Alma and Uncle Norman.  I especially remember being impressed by her amazing doll collection.  Another thing I was impressed by was my son installing the hardware for the drapes.  I had no idea he knew how to do such a thing, and it seemed complicated.   It was a hot July evening, there was no AC, and I remember how he was sweating.  But he accomplished it, and after we left I said, "Wow, I am impressed!  I had no idea you knew how to do that!"  He said, "Neither did I. That was the first time I ever did it."  I exclaimed, "Then WHY did you offer to do it?"  His answer just melted my heart as he said, "Because she's old!  And she's your mom's sister!"

Here are pictures from this past Thanksgiving.  Ken and Joanne with their mother, on the left, and Ken, his wife and daughter on the right.  

Ken has two children and six grandchildren.  Joanne has three children, seven grandchildren, and a great grandchild.  I took this picture of them yesterday.  Unfortunately, Joanne's oldest granddaughter and her baby had already left before the picture.  Joanne is in the middle (brown dress), her brother Ken is standing directly behind her. 

I'm so very glad I was able to be there yesterday.  We had such a good time during the meal afterward, telling old stories as well as catching up.  I was sitting with some of my aunt Anna's children.  We had fun reminiscing about the "talk of the town" when their mother gave birth to surprise TWINS at the age of 44!!  

Like I said, there are STORIES!!  Some that make us laugh and some that make us cry.  I'm thankful to belong to this big, diverse Myers family!