Mem’ries Light The Corners, Blah blah

I just read a post called “Siblings” by a new follower and it brought back so many memories of my young days.  Avni has an older sister and a younger brother, but even though my older sib is a brother, followed by two more brothers before my first sis, and Avni lives a world away from Kentucky, some things seem to be universal and all-time the same.

This photo was taken at a family reunion in July of 2000.  Only part of my extended family made it that year, but it was the first really big one we had done for so many years we figured one fourth of the family was doing good.  These are my mom’s family, my aunts, uncles and cousins from all over the country.  To say we had a good time would be an understatement — we had a great time.  We wore name tags, our name and the “elder” responsible for our own branch.  The setting was Panther Creek Park, very close to the old place where many of us grew up.  The area around this place has been cleared and manicured now, but back in the day?  Well, just taking a walk off the beaten path gives an idea of what our playground looked like all those years ago.  My favorite game was swinging on grapevines out over the creek.  For a person who was as chicken as I was, this was the ultimate adventure, led by the older male cousins and their friends, and copied by the girls.

First Communion day for one of my brothers with one sis and two other brothers posing with Mother.  This was our back yard which seemed so large back then.  At one time, when we first moved in to the house Dad built there, my Uncle’s barn stood about where everyone is posing.  Older brother and I took care of that one terrible day when he was demonstrating how the cinder blocks the house is made of didn’t burn.  The blocks were fine, it was only the straw big bro stuffed down in the holes in the blocks that burned, all the stuff in the holes plus everything else that caught flame when the fire spilled over the sides and across the dry barn.  Now the yard looks so small, with the house so close to that highway I wonder how we all survived being run over by the coal trucks that were a constant danger to us all.  One of my cousins was hit by a coal truck after getting off our school bus and crossing the road to her home.  I recently talked with one of the cousins about that day.  I saw it happen from my seat by the window, and still have recurring nightmares about that.  The truck driver not only didn’t stop for the bus, he hit Judy after she was several feet into their driveway, still holding her older sister’s hand.  I’m so glad I didn’t realize the entire situation back then, because it gives me chills now, all these years later.

Have to collect my brain cell again now.  More memories later  A.

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