Family is Important

Coming "home" to Nebraska at Christmas time and if possible, once during the summer, was always very important to us during the years our kids were growing up. This picture helps show why. Our 4 kids are shown along with Brother Don and Gladys' 4 girls and Vivian and Eddy Souceks' boy and girl. The cousins from California and Wisconsin were not here at the time though we often all got together during the summer. You can see the satisfaction in the faces of the Grandparents with these 10 Grandchildren. Verlon, sitting next to Granddad is the oldest and 14 years older than MaryBeth near Grandmother, and 26 years older than Tanya, the youngest of the cousins. All told, there are 17 cousins and Mother probably knew the birth date of each of them. This picture was taken some 45 years ago and some of those pictured are Grandparents in their own right now. I hope this generation of cousins can have someone among them like me and my Vrana cousins have in Pat Grimes that spearheads a quarterly Cousins Letter; it helps keep us up-to-date with each other. We also  have a reunion once a year with as many attending as possible, and we generally have a good turnout. Friends are important but relatives are special.