Family

I tried to come up with a catchy title for this post, but in the end, I decided to just go with something simple.  Really, the post is about seeing family while on vacation, and pictures from those trips, but seeing as even the most recent vacation to see family was almost two months ago, I felt it would be misleading to put "vacation" anywhere in the post title.  I had planned to share these photos shortly after returning from my North Dakota trip back in July, but time has gotten away from me once again.  I still wanted to document the trip for my own purposes, so I decided to go ahead and do a post now even though it's way after the fact.  I also figured that I could use this as an opportunity to introduce you all to my family.

I'll state right up front that this post will actually contain pictures from my last two trips home, in 2008 and 2010.  I wasn't blogging in 2008, but we got some excellent family photos during that trip whereas this trip we either didn't get great photos or we didn't get a photo at all.

Case in point.  Me and my dad.  Somehow we never got a picture of just the two of us during this trip, or even a picture of me, my sister, and him.  During my trip in 2008, well, at the airport the day I flew back home, we got this picture.  My dad is actually smiling in it, which is a small miracle!  I liked it so much that Jen, my sister, had it enlarged to an 8 x 10 and I have it framed and hanging on my wall.

Also at the airport (nothing like waiting until the last minute), we got this picture of me, Jen, and Dad.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably point out that my sister is the natural blond in the family and I am the brunette.  You certainly wouldn't know it by this picture, would you?  LOL

Jen and I managed to get a picture of just the two of us this year during the Fourth of July gathering at Dad's house.  Note to self - take pictures BEFORE standing out in the wind all afternoon and for sure before standing over a hot grill for an hour or two.  Dad and I teamed up on the grill and everyone said we did a great job, excluding the two hot dogs that rolled off, so the wilted hair and melted makeup were worth it for the memories.

Dad and Jen.  And another smile from Dad!

My dad had 13 kids in his family, of which 9 are still living.  All but one of those 9 live in North Dakota and 7 of them were present for the Fourth of July gathering.  It took some near threats of violence (not really, but it did take some convincing) to get them to pose together for a picture, but we did it.  Here are my dad and his siblings.  You might notice that the not smiling for pictures is somewhat of a family trait *sigh*.

Here are me, Jen, Gloria (Dad's significant other), and Dad.  Not as good as the picture from 2008, but we'll take it.

When I was home in 2008, one of my Dad's brothers stopped by and we managed to get this picture of them.  I hadn't seen my uncle in years, but used to spend a lot of time at his farm when I was growing up, so it was great to see him and also great to get this picture of he and my dad.   They are ten years apart in age, with my dad being the younger one.  And look, they are both smiling! 

My mom also came from a large family - 10 girls.  My poor grandfather.  What he must have had to put up with!  They are all still living except for my mom.  We lost her to cancer in 1992.  A bunch of my aunts and us got together both during my trip in 2008 as well as this year.  In 2008 we were only able to meet for dinner together at a restaurant, but we got some nice pictures from that gathering.

Here are the five aunts that got together with us for dinner.  The one on the far left is my godmother and two of the other four both lost their husbands in the last year, so it's been a rough year for my mom's side of the family.

The whole group of us:

I loved this picture that Jen took of me and my aunt Judy.  We spent many a vacation at her house when I was young since she lived on a lake and her kids were roughly the same ages as Jen and I.  I see her a bit more than the rest of the family because she comes down here for vacation sometimes and usually we can at least get together for dinner.  And she has email, so it's easier to keep in touch.

And finally, a picture of a few of us cousins and another aunt (that would be number six for those of you keeping count), from this year's get together, which was held at the home of one of my aunts.  My aunt is in the front left, next to her is my cousin Michael, his wife Patti, me, Jen, and my cousin Barb.  The gathering this year was at Barb's mom's house.  For those of you who have been reading my blog since February, it was Barb's dad that I posted about losing to cancer in early February and the day we got together was the day after what would have been my uncle's birthday, so it was nice for Barb and her mom to have a lot of family around that weekend.  Barb and I were pretty close growing up and Michael is the son of my godmother so we spent a lot of time at their place too.  I hadn't seen either Barb or Michael for over 10 years, so it was great to spend some time with them.

Sad update to yesterday's post

It is with a heavy heart and sore eyes that I write that my uncle passed away this morning after a long and painful night for all involved.  It is a blessing that he is no longer in pain, but the real pain now begins for those he left behind.  He left us far too soon and will be dearly missed by all, but most of all by my aunt, his wife of nearly 52 years, and his two children and three grandchildren.  I'm certain that he was greeted by those that went before him who are now "showing him the ropes".  Our loss is most definitely heaven's gain and we take comfort that we will see him again someday. 

In the spirit of accuracy (that's the accountant in me coming out), I have to note that I found out today that my uncle's cancer was actually diagnosed in June 2006, not 2005 as I wrote yesterday.  Either way, he put up a valiant fight against a truly evil disease.  RIP Uncle Dean.

I Hate Cancer

It took my mother from us 18 years ago at the age of 53 and now it's getting ready to take my uncle, the husband of one of my mom's 9 sisters.  He's been fighting it since 2005, and did pretty well for a long time, which is a miracle in and of itself when you are talking about liver cancer.  He was given 6 months about a month ago after an MRI revealed that the cancer had spread significantly and that there was nothing more they could do.  He took a drastic turn for the worse the past few days and the updates we received yesterday were bad and today's were even worse.  It now looks like he probably won't make it until the end of February.  I am 2000 miles away, so can't be there to support anyone in person, which is very frustrating, but I'm thankful for the technology that now exists that allows all of us to communicate easily and in a timely manner.  We have a very large extended family so making sure everyone gets updated on the current situation can be challenging to say the least.  My heart is breaking for his children, my cousins, as I know what they are going through and what they will continue to go through after he is gone.  One of my other aunts also lost her husband on December 17th, so it's been a rough couple of months for my mom's side of the family.  I have a trip home scheduled in late June/early July, and was hoping to see my uncle, but that is apparently not to be.  That may be a blessing as I can remember him how he was and the good times we had.  I just wish they could find a cure for this horrible disease.