Pennsylvania Family

So, since it’s been a long time since anyone has come to Minnesota, this is why I am determined to make it back to PA at least once a year! As you will see from my writings, I have a huge family back there and I get very homesick, even after 38 years. I don’t think my husband and children fully realize just how important my family there is to me or how homesick I get.

My Dad was the oldest of 7 children. He is the only one gone now, the other 4 Aunts and 2 Uncles are still with us, thankfully. I am saddened that my Aunt Sylvia is in the first stages of Alzeheimers, and her spouse, my uncle, is battling prostate cancer. They only have one child and she has just put an addition on to their home and my Aunt and Uncle will be moving in with them very shortly. The rest of the Aunts and Uncles are healthy. I have a lot of cousins and I am the oldest of the cousins. My Dad had a lot of Aunts and Uncles and cousins, and I got to know them all when I was growing up. There is only one of my Great Aunts on his side living, and I was able to visit with her this trip. I also have connected the last few trips with the second cousins on his side, and it's been great visiting with them and remembering old times.

My Mother’s immediate family wasn't as big, she had three brothers and only one of them is left, and you know, we lost Mom in May of ’05. I don't have as many cousins on my Mom's side, and three of them live in AZ, so haven't seen any of them since they were young. My Grandma came from a large family, so I have a lot of memories growing up with my Great Aunts, Uncles and cousins on her side, because she was the oldest daughter, and her brothers and sisters used to come around to her house a lot when I was young. (and remember, I was at Grandma's house a lot!) Only one of her Aunt’s is living yet, and that is Aunt Dot, who is 91. There are quite a few cousins from her side that are still living, and the last time I went home, I was on a mission to see these cousins (would be my second cousins) that I hadn’t seen in a very long time, until Mom and Dad’s funerals. I decided I wanted to visit with them more than at funerals. I had lunch with some of them the last trip home. I will write later about my seeing them this trip!

I am the oldest of 6 children. We lost our brother, who was next to me in age, in 2003 when he was 52. My brother Steve and my Sister-in-law, Donna, have two grown children and one Grandchild. Tim is the brother who now lives in our farm house that we grew up in, with his family. He has 4 grown children (two youngest still at home, 22 and 19) and 3 Grandchildren. Mark is the youngest brother, and he does the farming, he took over the farming when Dad couldn't do it any longer, and he is still doing it. He also works construction, is an avid hunter and sportman, he is not married. He is the most like my Dad. He loves farming. Tim loves farming, but works a full tim job as a truck driver to support his 4 children. Then Julia (Julie) is the baby of the family, she and I are the "bookends", a girl on each end and 4 boys in between! Julie and her husband have a grown daughter, who is married and an almost grown son, soon to be 18. Julie is an avid gardner and their home shows it. She also makes the best cookies ever. She takes after our Dad, and I take after our Mom.

Three of the brothers look like Dad's side and the other brother most definitely takes after Mom's side. Isn't it funny how, the older someone gets, the more you can see one parent and their family in them? (Read below)