Monday, September 03, 2012

Sept 3 - Photo a Day - Far Away

First Cousins 1962 or '63 Front row: Allison, me, and Craigy. Back row: Lindy, Kathy, Phyllis, Larry, and Stan


Today's theme is "Far Away," and my mind went to "... in both time and space."  Searching through photo albums, I found this perfect shot of my sister and I and the cousins we grew up with.

Mom was an only child, hence no first cousins on her side, but Dad's four siblings all had terrific kids: the twins, Linda and Larry and their older sister Kathy; Stan and his little sister, Allison; Craigy; Karen and Jennifer, Dad's youngest brother's girls, came along when the youngest of us were teens, so, sadly, I barely know them; and Phyllis and I. Through the magic of Facebook, despite being far away, we are all friends.

Naturally, in the photo, we're at Grampa and Grama's in Eastern Washington on a hot summer day. Behind this house was a wonderful place to explore, play, hide--and later, work in: Grampa's orchard. The trees were mostly apples and cherries, though I remember at least a few pears, peaches and plums. Those trees, along with Grampa and our parents' hard work raised a family of seven, and an endless number of barn kitties. You can probably imagine the incredible food that came from Grama's kitchen.

Everyone in this photo, except me, still lives within a few hours of each other in Washington State. It's a beautiful part of the world, and as much as I love my life here in Ontario, those towns -- and the people I love there -- call to me nearly every day.

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