Life for the most part revolves around family events. As a youngster, I recalled the admiration I felt for aunts and uncles and the talents they each held. My father’s sister is a wonderful artist, storyteller, great intelligence and is blessed with the most wonderful sense of humor and wit I could ever imagine. She is always great fun to be around and has stories galore to share with us. She is very special to me because I sometimes think we were cut from the same cookie cutter. 
                     My father’s brother has always been held in high regard and felt he was an authority on anything historical. He was a very interesting person, with varied interests, from gun collecting to rock collecting. He was always very boisterous and had a contagious laugh. I felt honored that he trusted me enough to help care for his daughter. He always would allow me to travel with he and my father whenever we went on an expedition. He knew I had an interest so he allowed me to tag along. One trip was to Coos Canyon to pan for gold. It was a memory I will never forget. He now lives with Dementia .As I got older I realized that my Aunts and Uncles were just people who made mistakes like the rest of us. This did not change the respect I felt for them.
                     My mother’s brothers are both musicians. One brother had a great deal of formal training and eventually became a Professor of Music at a college in Canada. He is also the director for a group of singing coal miners. He is well respected in Canada and has many accolades. It would be nice if we could all be closer but these days it is neat that we all keep connected through Facebook.
                    My mom’s other brother is a very gifted musician who is self taught. He plays the guitar and one of his favorite musicians is Chet Atkins. I grew up and have wonderful memories of my father and him playing together on occasion. I have some old cassettes of some music he recorded which I am now trying to put onto CD. I have enjoyed listening to his music for the past year or so. He is very laid back and you have to pay attention to him because he will say the funniest things when he may not be heard by those who are busy talking themselves. He wasn’t around a lot of the time when I was growing up as he  was in the US Air Force, so it was always a treat when they came back home to visit. 
                     I feel so blessed to have had such a great and talented group of Aunts and Uncles in my family. Each of them raised good families. They are all the older generation now. Before I know it, I will be replacing their generation. I guess I was just getting a little sentimental.
                    I have many items on the burner. I am going to be finishing up the Redbank interviews, meeting with folks at Maine Irish Heritage Center, and  working on the Immigrant program which I will present on May 16th at 130PM at Westbrook Historical Society, working on ornaments for an ornament party this upcoming weekend in New Hampshire and basically just trying to keep it all together and still work full time. I have story ideas regarding the Depression and also the San Francisco Earthquake. It seems like many of us juggle our time these days, but most importantly we need to stay grounded to our families if we have them.