27
April 2002
Subject:
The Family Tree
Dear
Ones,
Last Saturday, I spent a wonderful day with a very special and most delightful lady. She is my Aunt Ruby, the one remaining aunt I have on either side of my family. She is the matriarch of our family, but she "rules" by charm, wit and good humor. An example of this wit was displayed last Saturday when we asked her who a distant cousin had married so we could list his spouse on our genealogical chart. With a charming, little smile she replied, "He married everybody he met." That comment was "classic" Aunt Ruby. We all love this little lady dearly and every time we visit her, we come away feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
One reason I went to visit her last Saturday was that her 95th birthday was coming up within a week and I wanted to take her out to celebrate her birthday a few days early. I got as many of my family members together as possible and we all met for lunch at my cousin's Catfish Cottage. We ate catfish and hush puppies and sang "Happy Birthday" to our special guest. Aunt Ruby told me several times what a wonderful birthday party she had.
Another reason for my visit was to talk to her about "the family tree". As the sole surviving sibling of my mother who died when I was six years old, Aunt Ruby is an excellent genealogical source for my mother's side of my family. She is, also, quite knowledgeable about my father's side of the family as they were neighbors and all grew up together. She said that my father and mother played together as kids, so it was only natural for them to grow up and fall in love with each other.
After a scrumptious lunch, we drove to the old home site where Aunt Ruby grew up. She wanted to show us an old oak tree, which she said was planted by her mother-- my grandmother. No doubt I had seen that tree on numerous occasions, but last Saturday, it took on a whole new meaning for me.
The first thing I noticed was how majestic this old oak stood... just like my Aunt Ruby even though she now has to use a walker to steady herself. The next thing I recognized was that the tree was a live oak, a variety of oak quite common in the deep south... one of our longest living trees. This majestic live oak tree was, indeed, alive and well.... and full of life.... just like my dear little aunt. Then I noticed the many spreading branches... just like the branches of one's family tree... stronger and sturdier, but older, the closer to the trunk.... with the smaller and younger branches taking over with their new growth the farthest distance from the trunk.
I told my aunt that I just had to take a picture of that tree because I now saw, for the first time, "the family tree" as I had never seen it before. Thank you, Aunt Ruby, for showing me the way to the obvious. We love you dearly.... and may you have many more birthdays to celebrate!!
Here's hoping all your Saturdays are as special as last Saturday was for me.
Don
