Cousins

The Campfire Girls celebrate Ella Mae's 70th birthday.

There were lots of cousins to play with when we went visiting or they came to our house. This is Ella Mae. She was the second child of Uncle John (Jack) and Aunt Mary Gaylord. Her older brother Charles (Chuck, Charlie) lives in Okolona, Arkansas now.

She lives close by on a hill out of Chenango Forks with her husband, two elderly horses and two dogs. Ella Mae gardens, is a birdwatcher and quilter. She has been involved with a program at her church making Little Dresses for Little Ladies for girls in Haiti.

Dad was the youngest of four children. His oldest brother Uncle Harry and Aunt Velma (Wade) had one daughter Marjorie who passed away in 2002. Marjorie was married to Bob Loftus.

Aunt Orrilla and Uncle Percy Birchard had one daughter Ruth who married Dwayne Shearer. Ruth died in 2003 and Dwayne in 1996.

On my Mom's side of the family I was the oldest of twenty grandchildren. Some of them are younger than my children.

I remember some of the cousins visiting at the farm and Bruce (my brother and a general pest) took Bobbie for a ride down Sap Bush Road and Cloverdale Road. By the time they got back home Dad had received a phone call from an irate neighbor on Cloverdale Road. Seems Bruce was driving at a speed the neighbor considered fast.

Bobbie has found lots of pictures of all of us when we were young. Such fun to look at. Bobbie writes a family newsletter for us and includes her latest photo finds.

We survived the big birthday week with six from June 14 thru June 20. They were:

Jaylynn Elliott 6/14, age 4, Bob's youngest grandchild

Eddie Goodrich 6/14, age 73, one of Bob's brothers

Dody Gage 6/15, age 67, my sister

Caleb Tennant 6/17, age 1, my great grandson

Larry Goodrich 6/19, Bob's youngest brother

Jack Glover 6/20, age 52, my son

Now to do the frog stitch on a Churn Dash block. After it was nearly complete, I discovered I had sewn in the center square wrong side too. Ripit ripit ripit.

Chris