Richard Reunion

This past Saturday was the annual Richard Reunion. When we were kids, these annual picnics were always spent in Poe Valley or at another family camp in the mountains.  I always remember them as being great play times with my cousins. Our kids certainly followed true to form this year.  I can honestly say that this was one of the first times that I could just sit and watch them all play together without fearing for anyone's safety or needing to be right on top of them making sure they were OK.  It was nice!

We arrived in Lewistown around 10:30 and other family members began to arrive around 11:30.  Mom had worked so hard to prepare the house and the garage for the onslaught of people.  But I think a great time was had by all!

All of the kids ran around the house and played in the driveway until we forced them to come in to eat.  They put probably 10 miles on Mom and Dad's little gator, with even Mara taking a turn behind the wheel.  (OK...maybe THAT part was a little frightening, particularly when she would line up, aim for a group of adults standing in conversation with each other, and gun it.)  But there were no injuries reported and only one collision with a picnic table that left no marks on the gator, the table or Mara.  Success.

A highlight for all of us was the churning of homemade ice cream in the afternoon.  My Dad worked so hard and worked his magic like he always does.  People make fun of his methods (mixing with a particular metal spoon in a particular glass bowl, in a particular order), but we certainly can not argue with the results.  Perfection every single time.  This is one of those things that is soul touching for me, and made the trip absolutely worth every second.

The kids enjoyed it too.

There were lots of great conversations, lots of memory sharing and lots of laughing.  We all missed Pap dearly, and honestly we were all doing pretty well with it until Mike insisted that we sing "Blest Be The Tie that Binds"... the song that Pap always had us sing together at the end of every reunion.  As much as I loved hearing that Richard family harmony, it was still tough to be missing that booming bass voice.  But I know Pap would have loved that we were continuing the tradition of singing together.

We have a tough milestone ahead of us this weekend as we mark 1 year since Pap's passing.  I'll have a special post next week from our Poe Valley trip this weekend for Cousins Day.  I think it's the only place I'll want to be, with the people I'll most want to be spending that day with.