Making the trip back to Ohio has always been a special time since moving away in 1981.
Getting together with far-away loved ones is the main thing of course,
but then there are those other things...
...like crossing over the bridge.
When my boys were small, this was was the high point of their trip...
...or maybe it is getting a pizza from that favorite place that never changes...
...or taking a trip down memory lane...or the road that led you home...literally.
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Family reunions...I love 'em.
For as long as I can remember, my family had one every summer without fail...
...same city, same park, maybe a different table.
It started out as the Davis Reunion—my mom's side of the family,
including uncles, aunts and cousins...all six of her siblings and their families.
When large families have large families, that's a LOT of folks!
It wouldn't be unusual if there were well over 100 or more in attendance some years.
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There is only one Davis of that generation left these days...
...my mom's baby brother who is on the far end of his 90's and unable to travel.
Little by little the crowd dwindled over the years, leaving mostly just us Billheimers.
Dad passed away in 2002, then Mom several years later in 2010.
One of her wishes was that her kids would continue to get together regularly.
These photos are from our last reunion with Mom in 2009.
Six of my siblings live pretty close to each other, four of them attending the same church.
The eldest, brother Bob, lives in South Carolina and of course I am right above him.
Since Mom passed in 2010, we have been able to get together three out of the five years.
The photo below was taken in 2011 and is the most recent one of all eight of us all together.
Somehow, the group photo from the 2013 reunion didn't get taken...
...too much talking and craziness going on I guess.
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I really had my heart set on getting an updated group photo this year.
Unfortunately, Bob had a health scare and wasn't able to make the trip.
It was very disappointing but we were just relieved that he is going to be okay.
So it was the seven of us in the new photo.
The one taking the picture (a nephew) told everyone to say something...can't remember what.
It looks as though several were caught in different stages of saying whatever it was!
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And an added blessing this year was getting re-acquainted with a childhood friend.
Polly lived kitty-corner across the street and we played together almost daily.
Here's a peek at us from back in the day.
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| (left to right) Polly, Rhonda (another neighbor girl), me, my sister Barbara |
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| Sister Barbara (left), me (middle), Polly (right) and big sister Ruby in back. |
Polly and her family moved away when she was about eight and we lost contact.
A little over a year ago, I received a friend request from her on facebook...
...good ol' facebook.
Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather since I hadn't thought about her in years.
Now here's were the story gets interesting...
Not only is she a farmer who raises exotic sheep,
Polly is also a published author, her first
book written about her father, Paul.
She wanted to get in touch with me and Barbara and tell us that we were in her book!
Over the past year we have rekindled our friendships and knowing that she lived in the area,
we invited her to our reunion!
It was so much fun to see her and reminisce about the old days!
She had also put some of those memories into her book,
memories that either I had forgotten or just blocked out...
...and it seems that I was a little mean girl at times!
Can you believe I did that?
I can't either... ;)
Now that I have a copy, I can't wait to read the rest of it!
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So on Sunday morning, we seven siblings worshipped together as a family...
then had lunch together before we got back on the road to NC.
Yes, it surely was good to be "home" again.
And home isn't just the house that we currently live in...
...it's any place where we leave a part of our hearts.
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Have a great week, friends.
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