My maternal grandmother, Bertha Johnson Randall was the oldest of 12 siblings. The last of her siblings, Ollie, passed away recently and his nieces and nephews (my mom's cousins) gathered to remember their parents and to honor Ollie's inheritance gift. I was an oddball in the gathering, since I was a member of the next generation, but was warmly welcomed as my mom's representative.
I was received at the DesMoines airport by my mom's cousin Dave and his wife Diane
( here we are with their daughter Shanna and grandson in the family town of Decorah
having ice cream after lunch the first day)
and I stayed the first night at their house in Madison County Iowa, famous for being John Wayne's birthplace, and was the set for the movie "Bridges of Madison County".
Dave is a rancher and trains horses. You can never have too many sunset pictures, right?
Next day we attended a family birthday party for Einer, 102 years old. He sang for us in front of Buck Hollow Band who's female singer is my second cousin, Teresa.
On day she took me to see her very unusual home in the country. She and her husband John ( also her band mate) lived off the grid for several years as they were working on turning an abandoned cabin into a nice home.
The main event, a gathering of the Johnson family cousins included a three cemetery tour to visit gravestones.
Here is my mom's cousins Denny ( who I also visited in Bend in August while there for the eclipse) and his sister Diana who lives near Portland.
Here are my mom's cousins Joanne, Jan an Lorrie. They were the brains and brawn behind this family gathering, who planned and provided meals and housing for the entire group which included 28 people at its largest meal. These ladies also taught me how to play pinochle on my lat night in town. Fun night!
This mom's cousin Lorrie and her husband Chuck, who's house I stayed at two nights.
This is my mom's cousin Gloria whom I shared transportation and a bed with for three nights (lodging was tight and we were both calm sleepers, so we got along just fine and enjoyed getting to
know each other😏)
This is Jan who hosted the first stop of three with her two sisters for progressive breakfast the first morning. I wanted to show the cornfield in her backyard.
This is mom's cousin Joanne and her husband Justin.
Joanne is the family historian an was the lead planner for this event
The larger group gathered on the property in northeast Iowa near Wadena where all their parents were born. The current landowner build a beautiful lodge near the old homesite where 12 of us slept and which hosted the family gathering for two days.
I am happy to be reconnected with my mom's cousins and to hear their versions of family tales that I remember from my childhood.
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