Letters for George: Happy Times: 1990 Family Reunion

L Family Farm, Birch Creek, MI

Dear George,

Our son J has always said that the happiest times he’s seen in my adult life were when I’ve been with my siblings at family reunions in Menominee. Our parents started arranging these yearly get-togethers in the early 1970’s, and we continued this tradition even after their deaths. I was paging through a photo album the other day and ran across the pictures below from our get-together at Farm in 1990, twenty years ago this summer. They brought back happy memories, though they elicit sorrow as well since we have suffered the heartbreaking family losses of my brothers Steven and Peter and my brother-in-law George since that time. Moreover, this was the last reunion our father hosted before he moved to Cincinnati to the Alzheimer center. We didn’t anticipate this happening at the time, and this final reunion with our dad at Farm turned out to be a noteworthy occasion.

In adulthood our family’s always been spread all over the country, so getting everybody together to Menominee at the same time each year was a monumental undertaking. Here are Peter (New Jersey), myself (Cincinnati), and Vicki and George (Santa Cruz).

Vic was thrilled and exuberant whenever his children and grandchildren came home. Here he is expressing his enthusiasm, to Vicki and J’s amusement.

The farmhouse has always been a soothing place with its white-washed walls, low ceilings, and attractive furnishings. My mom renovated the organ, sandpapering and polishing every square inch over a period of months.

We joked around a lot when together, and reunions were nonstop laughter. Pictured here: Dave, J, and George on the living room couch, having folded paper cranes following George’s instructions.

Abra (left) and Jessica were the youngest grandchildren, and they brought a special twinkle to their grandfather’s eye.

Steve was the life of the party in our family. Here he is holding court in the kitchen of a friend’s house in town where some of our group were staying.

Farm is full of mysteries and delights, much of it a product of our dad’s artwork. It looks like Katja has been meditating at the Medicine Wheel. Brady is taking a rest.

Though he did submit to them willingly, Peter described Vicki’s massages as heartless torture. Vicki seems to be enjoying herself in spite of Peter’s pain.

George was the first person up each morning, and he started the day off with his yoga routine.

At the 1990 reunion, my dad insisted that we hold a lottery which would determine the winner of his thirty-year-old Triumph sportscar which had been stored, inoperable, in his garage for years (and which the winner was required to take home with them). Each of his four offspring drew a number from a hat, and here is Vic ready to reveal the outcome. Aside from the grandchildren, all the adult offspring viewed with horror the prospect that they themselves might be the “winner”.

Fortunately for everyone else, Steve picked the (un)lucky number. His kids Jennifer and Jason seem genuinely pleased, but it’s hard to tell whether Steven is smiling or grimacing. He recruited his close friend, Peter Johnson, to get the car in running condition, and they drove it all the way from Menominee to Seattle.

As occurred each year, Vic treated the family to dinner at the Waterfront, our favorite Menominee restaurant. Most enjoyed a whiskey Manhattan on the rocks and a whitefish dinner. From the left: J, Peter, Jennifer, Steve, Jason, Dave, and Kiera O.