With a Y please...

So, we went to a family reunion last weekend. Here's what we looked like...

We're the cute quartet on the far left. The rest of the folks are branches on the same family tree. Only some -- maybe half? -- still share the same surname, but, regardless of their names, the sense of and loyalty to family is something that runs deep with this group.

I should mention that my cousin and his family aren't in this picture. They were totally present for the weekend's activities, but they had taken their girls back to the motel for a nap. (Secretly, I am a little glad they missed the shot; those 2 girls of his are so stinkin' cute... I doubt anyone would have noticed the other 65 people at all!!)

The old guy on the front row with the cap on his knee. See him? That's Uncle Tooter. So named because he was always such a "toot." Metaphorically, of course. Not literally. At least I don't think so...

Anyway, I enjoyed a time last weekend listening to him tell stories about my granddad and him as boys. He told about how they handled an unruly chicken one time; it was the equivalent of spy games boys today play -- you know... involved plans were hatched and traps were set. I think the story ended with yard bird for supper instead of huge explosions, but it's the same still. Really.

He also mentioned that Granddad didn't really like horses -- something I never knew. Funny how relationships keep developing and changing, even after people die. Weird.

Although maybe not. See, here's what this group used to look like when they got together...

Okay, not that exact group, but the people who beget the people in the first picture. Anyway, see the cutie patootie in the checkered dress and the really handsome guy on the back row, far left? Those are my grandparents. Can you believe it?

I have trouble with it -- with remembering them as young, vibrant people. I know they were more active when I was a kid, but the last few times I saw them, they were, well, old. Pictures like these and stories like the ones Uncle Tooter told... Those things make me remember that my grandparents were real vibrant people, not just always my grandparents.

Look at this one:

That's my sister, Dad, Granddad, and my Granddad's parents. I'm the chubby one in pink. Big surprise there; I could still be described that way.

Also, it was the early '70s, so excuse the eye wear.

Everyone has a hint of a smile. I like that. It's how families should be when they are together.