Reuniting with family ...

The Holtzhouse reunion was this past weekend in Detroit. I had looked forward to it for many months with a lot of happy anticipation. I was unable to attend the 2008 reunion that was held in Wisconsin ~ so the last Holtzhouse family reunion I attended was for my grandfather's 90th birthday, in the year 2000.

Pictured above are my great-grandparents, Minnie Myrtle Smith and John Alonzo Holtzhouse, both born in 1888. I think this is their wedding picture! All of the folk at the weekend reunion have their roots in this couple. And roots are both interesting and important ... it gives a person a sense of history and of family! When I look at this picture of my great-grandparents, I feel a tie to them and a longing to have known them better. They are, afterall, MY grandchildren's great-great-great grandparents!

I'm not even sure I can name each child of my great-grandparents; but my Grandpa Guy Holtzhouse was one of their sons. In particular, this reunion is all of the offspring of my Grandpa Guy and my Grandma Mary who had five children (Guy, Jean, Janice, Marylou and Sally) and 22 grandchildren.
This is my cousin, Mary. The reunion was held on her one-acre property FULL of beautiful flower gardens. She is my Aunt Jan's first daughter. I do not know Mary very well at all, but I enjoyed talking with her Saturday and hearing all about how she has planted and cultivated her gardens.
All throughout Mary's yard are little sign posts, cement tiles, stones, plaques, and other ornaments, etc. that remind everyone WHO created all of this beauty ...
Several of my aunts have kept histories of the family and there were many great old photos to look at. I wish I'd had more time to really enjoy those books. My cousins Suzie, Andrea and Don, as well as my Aunt Sally are all around the table discussing family matters. See Nana in the background?

Mary's gardens are amazingly beautiful. I was immediately happy and content just to wander and snap pictures ... all afternoon!
We got each separate "family" together to take a family picture. This is my Aunt Jean's family. She has five daughters (all present) and ten grandchildren! I love these girls so much. We have been able to keep in touch a little bit better in the last few years. This is the family that goes up to Little Point Sable each summer.
This is my Aunt Jan's family. She has four sons and two daughters ~ and ALL of them were able to come to the reunion from as far away as Brownsville, Texas! I stayed at my Aunt Jan's twice this last year while traveling to and from El Paso via Metro Airport!
This is my Aunt Sally's family. She has one son and two daughters. My cousin Steve lives in California and wasn't here for the reunion, but Julia and Lois and their huge extended families were! Beautiful, all of them!

I completely missed the picture of my Aunt Marylou's family. She died a few years ago from ALS. Her daughter, Sarah, was at the reunion with a couple of her children. Marylou also has three sons (Bruce, Marcus and Tim), but none were able to come; however, Traci Jean, my cousin Bruce's wife, was there with their two boys, Bruce Royal and Monte.
And this is my mom's family ... but MOST of us were NOT present! If you count everyone in my mom's extended family, there are 51 of us! We missed my brother, David, and his whole entire family very much ~ they would really have enjoyed being part of this day.


Isn't this a cool looking little bug? My great-nephew, Matthew, thought that it possibly was a butterfly who had lost its wings!
This is my niece Shelley with her boys, Matthew and Nolan.
Nolan reminds me of a little woodland elf ... he is SO cute!
This is Sarah (the youngest cousin) and my sister Ruthanne (the firstborn of all the cousins) . I think they look a lot alike. There is a 20-year difference between them and we have never lived near Sarah's family ... so we regret that we hardly know her.
Most of this huge family acknowledges and loves the LORD. It is interesting to hear their journeys of faith and rejoice together in the salvation of the LORD.

Late in the evening, some of the more talented of the cousins got out guitars and the singing began ...
We sang all kinds of songs: folk songs from the 60's, old Gospel tunes, modern praise songs and hymns, as well as good solid hymns of faith. The harmony of voices was really beautiful.
My cousins are not only gifted musicians, but they have passed their talents on to their children. My cousin Lois's kids (she has EIGHT) knew every single song practically, and one of her boys "signed" along as we sang ... it was beautiful to watch his movements, but even better to watch his joyful face!
This is a four-generation picture: My great-grandfather John Alonzo Holtzhouse, Guy Alonzo Holtzhouse (my grandpa), Guy Jr. (my dad), and sitting on my grandpa's lap is my brother, Kevin. None of these folk are living any more. They have gone on to meet their Maker, and I hope they are all happy in His wonderful presence. My brother is the first of the cousins to have died.
There is a song by Sarah Groves titled: "Generations." I have loved it ever since I first heard it many years ago. The chorus goes something like this ~ "Remind me! Generations will reap what I sow. I can pass on a curse ... or a blessing ... to those I may never know!" And then she goes on to say that she hopes her great-great-great granddaughters and sons will live in PEACE. As a grandma, I think a lot about that. Decisions that I make today will have an influence on future generations. So I want to LOVE and OBEY the great God who made me, because He has promised to LAVISH His love on me ... and on ALL who follow after me, even for a THOUSAND generations!

I feel a little "down" now that the reunion has come and gone. We have all traveled back to our separate cities. Some of us live very far away from each other ... and always have! There is a sad disconnect between a lot of us because either geographical distance or circumstance has kept us from really knowing each other very well. I'm thankful for the technology that allows us to take peeks into each others lives every now and again. I, for one, want to make more of an effort to keep closer in touch!