Connecting with Family

My dad's mother died when Dad was only 13 months old. Some time after that, his father left Dad in the care of his maternal grandparents and moved to Oklahoma. He remarried and started a new family in Oklahoma. Out of that marriage were born two sisters, Lena and Lola, half-sisters of my father.

Although she has always lived several states away from us, Lena has maintained a relationship with Dad and his family over the years. In the years since my father's death in 1986, Lena, who now lives in California, has come to visit Doug and me a few times, usually planning her trip around her genealogy work and the annual family reunion. The last time she was here was in 2008, when she was 85. She was to have hip surgery when she returned home from that visit, and we weren't sure she'd ever be able to make the trip again.

Well, she has. She's suffered some serious health issues this year, which have weakened her. So, this time, her son, Steve, accompanied her on the flight from California. They are here for only a few days this time and are staying in a motel near the small town where the reunion is held. It's more centrally located and allows more opportunities for contact with family members in that area.

Doug and I weren't going to make it to the reunion on Sunday, so we went out with Lena and Steve for lunch on Friday and had a wonderful visit. I'd never met my cousin, Steve, before; so that was an added bonus.

Aunt Lena, age 90, enjoying one of the rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel.

She's a very energetic senior citizen and stays active. This was the first time I'd known her to make the trip to Indiana without her laptop computer. She probably would have brought it this time, too, if Steve hadn't brought his.

Lena's son, my cousin, Steve

"What's with the closed eyes?" you're saying. Beats me. A good photographer would have spotted that and re-taken the shots...or would have shot additional photos to be sure the eyes were open in at least some of them.

Me, Aunt Lena, and Doug

Aunt Lena and Steve inside the restaurant.

Steve has retired from a career in nuclear weapons design and is now working with Phil Joy, a friend of his who is a professional house mover. (The two of them also race cars, but that's another story.) Anyway, Steve was telling us about some of the more interesting house-moving jobs they've done, and I thought you might enjoy seeing a video of one of them.

The first video is a news clip of less than two minutes in length, but in it you can hear a little more about the house that was being moved. The second clip is just over four minutes in length. It has no dialogue but includes photos and video of the house in its prime, in its decline, and during its move.

This move occurred in 2007. As I understand it, the goal was to turn the house into a bed and breakfast, but I haven't been able to find any current pictures to show it in its restored state.

Update:  Aunt Lena died on October 24, 2019, at the age of 96.