Approximately. Maybe 19 years ago but same deal.
And I wonder why my career thing kinda got stalled in my 30s, never to really get back on track. Four kids. I know, I know, other people do it. But I recently considered how I might feel if the career was fine but never got going on the kid thing. Way way worse!!
This event was Frances' 80th birthday party in Dennis' birth family. We were on the way of being included in this family but not completely. This event was a turning point.
We overwhelmed any event just by showing up. Four little kids ages 3-10. Susanna, herself, could take down any event on her own. She always was moving and running and making lots of noise. Still does. I often told hosts "You'll be glad when we leave." All these kids and some weren't white...what was this all about?
This was the first big event from Dennis' birthfamily that we attended. Actually Dave and Lureen's wedding a few months previously. I remember looking at wedding pictures that afternoon. It had been a big deal then when Lureen asked Dennis to be in the family group picture. Now, it would be expected but not then.
To get technical, Frances was Dennis' step birth grandmother. If you can't figure out what that is, don't worry, it's not important. I always appreciated how gracious Frances was to us. Many older relatives attended; they had heard about Anne searching for her first child that she had released for adoption in 1953. All a big secret. But here we were, as big as life and with so many varied little kids. We were introduced around, many were not sure about how they should act, a little tentative. I thought it was pretty funny, like we had just emerged from a swamp or something.
Wouldn't be like that now, of course. We still have the four kids, all in their 20s. But if I needed a reminder about what I was doing in those years,.....
Photo courtesy of Anne Hartley
No comments:
Post a Comment