The Whole Fam Damily

Casa de Pajaro played host to Clara Williams Bergstrom Willman's grandchildren, who got together the first weekend in August for our annual cousin reunion. Clara is my grandmother, but I am just one of the many. Clara had 24 grandchildren between 1937 and 1971. (I'm right in the middle of the pack, born in 1957.) I've lost track of the great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. This year we were just a few cousins, together with our families making only 30 people or so. We have easily doubled that in other years. Aunt Zoe had to work and couldn't come out from Nebraska, Uncle Erling was not feeling well and many others had other issues with coming this year.

Our Grandma lived from May 1893 to October 1995, (yes, she lived 102 years) and she was the matriarch of our family. She married twice and basically had two families. With her first husband, Aaron Bergstrom she had three children born in 1914, 1918 and 1920. Clara married her second husband Erling Willman in 1928 and had four children in 1929, 1931, 1933 and 1937. Of the seven children, four are still alive. The oldest of the seven is Ruth who is 94 years old this year. Bea is 90. She and Ruth live in Wyoming. Cliff was child #3 and he passed away in 2002. Zoe will be 79 this year and she's still working (yes full time) running a teaching program in Nebraska. Erling, Jr. just passed away two days ago and Russ (my dad) passed away in 2004. Howard is 71 and still going strong (also still working like his big sister).

Our reunion this year was great fun for those of us in attendance. We started the celebration on Friday evening with cocktails, mojitos, BBQ and an evening swim. Saturday was all about the pool and games. The main events were a keep away game in the water and horse shoes under the old oak tree. The guys bar-b-qued a couple of times, hamburger, hot dogs, chicken and all the amenities. we enjoyed Homemade potato salad, Mom's macaroni salad, fruit salad and much more.

In the evening, we brought out the Karaoke machine to the spa deck, which we use like a stage. For the last three years, I have run the Karaoke show. Mom and I started the show with a duet of California Dreamin', followed by my youngest brother Andrew who sang his signature song, "Friends in Low Places". The highlight of the show is as always the men who are called the "Boston Whalers". The group is comprised of my brother Rich, brother-in-law James and cousin Matt. Missing this year is the leader of the group, cousin Bob who couldn't make it out from Boston this year. I always put up a medley of southern rock songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Ramblin Man".

We wrapped up the night with s'mores and categories game called Frazzle. Some of the kids were still in the pool at midnight and the water was still warm. Everyone was ready for a good night's sleep.

Sunday morning was filled with folks gathering their belongings and hugs and kisses goodbye. By noon, there were just a few of us left, including my brother Rich and his family, my sister Kat and her family and me and my kids. Rich cooked up hot dogs, hamburgers and steaks for lunch. My kids took off for San Diego and the rest of us headed out to the cemetery to visit our dad. The skies were clear and the view magnificant. We all teared up a bit, but felt somehow Dad had been with us all weekend.