The Cousins - Now and Then

At the recent funeral for my beloved sister, Ruth, there were several heart-warming and long-awaited reunitings, which I'm quite pleased to share with you now!

I'm the last one of her generation living now, with nieces, nephews and great-nieces in attendance at the funeral, children and grandchildren of both Ruth and of my late brother, Harold, and some spouses, one of whom I just met that day. Some of my nieces, I hadn't seen in awhile; one, who is Ruth's lovely youngest granddaughter, Lyric Ruth, I'd never seen, though Ruth had sent me pictures of her. She and her mother were kind enough to offer to pick me up and drive me to the funeral and her other two sisters and their mother brought me back to Dallas afterward.

Some of the cousins actually hadn't gotten together for quite awhile, either, and one was unable to come, because one of her own was graduating. All mine are way off in Indiana and unable to join in. And our eldest sister, Harriet, allong with her whole family perished in a tragic accident in 1953. Nevertheless, it was a most happy reunion, of which I'm sure Ruth herself, as well as our parents and those others of our family no longer living, would be abundantly pleased!

Sometimes one can almost hear joyous music when there is a lovely spiritual connection and reunion happening! That was such a time.

Time flies so quickly. . . .

One's reminded how precious and vital it is to tell those we love that we love them.

There were pictures taken after the formalities, when the cousins, other relatives and friends simply mingled and enjoyed our long-delayed reunion. There were also moments as we Dallasites started home, when we stopped and meandered in an amazing sunflower field!

When I got home, I began to look in my keepsakes for pictures of my neices and nephews when they were younger and the thought came of how fun it would be to compare them!

So the results are here ~ what this hub is all about!

First, there are pictures of Ruth herself on a tribute to her, which you can see on:

Here are her own progeny, their cousins from our brother and their uncle Harold's progeny, and their aunt, (her sister), Nellieanna. The cousins from Indiana (my progeny) were unavailable for this reunion, though they sent their condolences. (Some of them are pictured 'then' in a family picture on Ruth's tribute hub.) Harold's elderly widow, Frances, was present, but was not able to join in the visiting.

Here are candid photos, - but as you can see, I was involved in visiting and wasn't really running around taking pictures all that much, so not all that many photos! Someone snapped some with me included. A windy day, so everyone's hair was aloft! I was glad I brought the hat!

I came to Blooming Grove, where the funeral and burial were performed, with my niece, Carroll and her youngest, Lyric Ruth. I returned to Dallas with Carroll and her other two daughters, Vanessa and Georgia.

As mentioned, on our return trip, we passed a breathtaking sight: fields of sunflowers for as far as the eye could see! It was latish in the day by then and the blooms were all turned toward the lowering sun. But when we got out and ventured in among them, Georgia turned some around to face the camera with us!

Here are a few of those photos:

Aren't they just beautiful?

My deepest gratitude to my lovely nieces and nephews and their spouses for including me in a most special day to remember. I've no doubt whasoever that our beloved sister, mother and grandmother Ruth is beaming with joy that it was just as it was.

I loved reuniting with them all, especially those I haven't seen for many years. Carroll was my little 'punkin' seed' when she was a little thing and we shared many special moments as she grew up, married and had her beautiful daughters. Getting to know her youngest, Lyric Ruth, for the first time ever truly blew me away. I won't soon forget her graciousness for inviting me to ride to Blooming Grove with her and her mother, nor will I forget her response when I asked her advice about what was customary to wear to funerals, since I'm 'funeral illiterate'. She said that it should be guided by the person whose passing was being honored. She said she'd considered wearing something somber, but knew that her Gram was not a somber person, so she decided to wear a red tie-dyed dress with a little black vest over it! Yet, I felt her personal grief and sense of loss all during the day; she was already missing her beloved Gram.

At the funeral when some of us spoke up front to the other mourners about Ruth, - all of us relating her unique traits and personality, - while others were nodding in agreement and shedding tears, I think perhaps that Lyric shed the most. She was very close to Ruth, who was so pleased that she bore her own name as a middle name.

It was also a special delight to see and to hug Harriet Ann again, who was always dear to me. (She has joined us here on Hubpages, too, by the way, as has Hal!)

R.I.P.

There are some

Who, passing

Cast longer shadows

Who, having passed,

Leave larger spaces,

Their indelible traces

Upon the lives

They touched.

______© Nellieanna H. Hay