A Thoughtful Reunion Full of Diversity

Check list:

Goodie box, fishing, rain, wind, heat, moon, fire, flagline, baby, aunties, Jackson made a bow holder for Elsie out of a branch, Chris broke his ankle, busy Nurse Jane, Jean's coffee, Julia's walking stick, Donna's Burgers, fried okra, Branson and Jackson were the gold standard, (Jason is silver, Chris Miller is bronze, and Nora isn't even in the ranking), Janice looked great, Art was spry, Kenny hauled, some of us had our daily naps, Cara, post surgery, survived everything, GG brought "cheap shrimp", may he forever bring the "cheap shrimp" and the shrimp boil pot, pumpkins were painted, bacon infused vodka bloody Marys were the bomb, potatoes were roasted, Mike photographed, everyone else pretended to, there were more republicans than me, with a few fence sitters -- curses, Gloria only came on Monday, Haley and Chloe say they will come back. If you know who they are then you are a champion reunion goer.

The only thing missing was Jeff.

We honored him in an elemental way: accidentally not intentionally.
Earth, Wind/Air, Fire, and Water. 

Earth: We planted the Memory Tree. The delivery was early, the park dug the hole, the Pin Oak was raised, the perfect symmetry of a beautiful tree will honor Jeff always.
Wind/Air: The flagline blew and the spectacular Harvest Moon rose and bathed the camp with its full golden light. You couldn't help but feel Jeff was gazing down somehow.
Fire: The fire ceremony that was a vigil after all. Quiet and loving and moving and dignified and teary, a soft pause to remember Jeff. All flickering flame and gentle glow with tears streaming down our cheeks. Love was in the air.
Water: Saturday morning Jerry organized, prepared, and presented a champagne toast. He choked up when he tried to talk of our missing brother and our love for him. A love that can't be summed up in words.

Saturday evening Julia presented a toast with a mystery bottle of scotch that had been found in Jeff's belongings and no one knew where it came from, an old, dusty bottle. Julia said, "He didn't even like scotch, he would have given me any he had." The toast was drunk with only a few squelched eyes. How he came by the bottle remains a mystery, as does his death

He died too young. He died too vibrant. He died too full of love for us to let go easily.

Reunion just wasn't the same. It felt stiff and displaced and odd. Jerry said like a swarm of bees looking for its queen. Julia said like a flock of birds looking for a place to land. We didn't know where to sit, where to build a camp fire, where to find him. Jeff was gone and we felt it acutely.

Waves of sadness intermingled with happy smiles, events, remembrances. Adorable Branson telling me "Aunt Ju Ju watch me." after I teased him that he had to take care of Aunt Ju Ju and not let her get hurt or lost. The tree was perfect, thank you Jerry and Amber. As were the t shirts, thank you Mark Harris, and flagline thank you Jeffery William Taylor. The kids running amok was perfect, Brittany bathing Branson, baked potatoes went off without a hitch, Chris' broke foot that was a downer but could have been worse. He might not have had 40 family members, two professionals, multiple drivers, and one bartender to assist him. Alcohol might have been involved. There was a bit of alcohol around the fire. More than usual anyway. Breakfast Bailey's was perfect. Jean's cookies were perfect. Jackson making a mad dash up the hill to get his secret stash of cookies was perfect. Heat, humidity, temperature drop, rain, and bluster were par for the course. Egg salad, corn bread salad, pasta salad, and kale salad were all good. As Julia says, "If we aren't making food, or eating food, we are talking about food.

The diversity of our honoring him reminded me of how diverse our family is. Diversity in looks, politics, careers, health, wealth, activities. How can we love someone so completely when they are so different from ourselves? We are a tribe of Earth, Wind/Air, Fire and Water.

Diversity in books:

Art -- Her Mother's Shadow, Diane Chamberlin
Chris D -- The Fellowship of the Rings
Blaine -- physics textbook
Taylor -- House of Sky
GG -- Cabella's Fall Catalog, and ebay
Chloe -- magazines, she does have an active boy who licks truck tires
Andrew -- True Grit
Lexi -- History textbook
Avery -- The Wolf at the Door
Mark -- Boundaries for Leaders
Haley -- The Happiness Project
Julia -- Sanctuary, Nora Roberts
Jerry -- Total War, or Absolute war, I can't read my notes
             and Sometimes a Great Notion
Cathy -- Live the Dash
Lynn -- Bible,
             Killing Lincoln,
             Killing Jesus
             The Improbability of Love
Kathy -- Moby Dick -- still?
Amber -- House of Sky
Mary Lee -- The Devil in the White City
Michael -- The Boys Who Challenged Hitler
                  He recommends -- The Boy on the Wooden Box
                  And all the I Survived series
Jane -- Kinfolk
Branson -- The Little Blue Truck Halloween
Summer -- Odyssey
Jackson -- The Lightning Thief
Maddie -- Harry Potter, The Sorcerer's Stone
Chris M -- The Girl With All The Gifts
Nora -- The Professor and The Madman
Marc -- The Four Hour Body
Tal -- Red Mars
Mike -- To Kill a Mockingbird
Jean -- All The Light We Cannot See
Jan -- The Shell Collector
Gloria -- The Voyage: A historical novel set during the Holocaust,
               inspired by real events by Roberta Kagan.

Now that is diversity in a nutshell.

I somehow missed people, there were 44 in attendance and I didn't get the babies; Tripp's, Elam's or Elsie's books. I missed Jordan, Jennifer, Janice, Brittany, Clark, Chibi, Kenny, Cara, Hannah, and Ed. I apologize to those I missed.

Mike Noland the books I was trying to remember for you are: Walking the Bible, Bruce Feiler and The Way, it is a book from 1934, but most people refer to the movie.

And who mentioned the book to me Playing The Enemy, by John Carlin?

In all our diversity we had a family reunion to honor Jeff. How many ways? A fire ceremony, a tree planting, a bacon fest, a high flying flag line, and a toast or two. We remember Jeff's warmth, love and humor with love and affection. We are connected to you, your family, and Greenleaf. And your hugs, we remember your hugs.

Missing Jeff or not. Loving Jeff or not. Being different or not.
The sun came up and the sun set and the earth turned and we are born and die and that's the way it is.