A Week of Thanks - #1, Family

Okay, so I realize that my post last night had a little bit too much whi-i-i-i-ine to it, so I've decided to do a short post every night through Thanksgiving about things that I'm thankful for, triggered either by random thoughts or events of the day.

Today's blog is about family. Last night for a while I was doing some genealogy research, mostly about my mom's side of the family because my dad's family tree is complete pretty far back. My mom's family is another story, so I've decided to get back on the hunt for info on the Brandon and Woodmansee lines, plus fill in some blanks and verify info on my dad's Merrill and Lytle lines.

As I was working on it this morning, I decided to verify some info on my dad's brother Edgar. I put his name in, looking for "all" information, and when it came up, not only was his birth date there, so was his death date - five years ago!! I was really upset, not only because he was the last of the eight kids (seven boys and one girl) still living, but because not one had called to tell us!! I did some research and found the phone number for one of my cousins, wanting to find out why no one had told us; by the time I found her number and she began talking to me, I realized that from the last time I had talked to another one of the cousins (which didn't seem like that long ago) and the time that Edgar died, both my sister and I had gotten ride of our landline numbers and switched completely to cell phones - and nobody in Arizona had the new numbers! I remember when I was in high school my dad telling me that the older you get, the faster time goes - and man is that true. We get so caught up in the details of living, that it's way too easy to lose contact with the people we love.

So - back to the purpose of this blog. I am so very, very thankful for my family. I'm the youngest of three children - a girl (Gail), then a boy (Richard), and then (9 years later!!!) me. Mom and Dad are gone, our brother is gone, so there is only my sister and I, and I am really thankful that she and I are close and can get together often, and have such fun when we do.

I'm also very grateful for my daughter Lori - she's an amazing woman, braver than I ever was, not afraid to stand up for herself, and an incredible mother and wife. Her husband Kirk adores her and the kids, and after 15 years together, they're still good friends and very much in love. Their two kids Kaitlin, 13, and Payton, 9, and such cool kids, and they love hangin' out with grandma!

Well, I blew the "short" part about this post, but I wanted my familyto know how much I love them, and I am very thankful for their love and support.