A Family Tree

A Family Tree…..

Hi everyone… recently my family had a reunion of sorts. It was very bittersweet being there. On one hand I got to see family I haven’t seen in a while, family I don’t get to see that often and family that I met for the first time. Any time our family gets together under those circumstances we are going to have a good time, we just roll that way! Between the talking and laughing we manage to put away some good food and give & receive lots of hugs.

 

A special part of this gathering was the old home movies playing on the stage.  While we ate and visited you could watch and hear different family members say, “LOOK! It’s (insert name here)!!” “Wow, look at all the hair he had back then, haha” or “AWw, look at how little (insert name here) was back then! Oh how they’ve grown” I loved it!! So many changes…the good ol’ days



I said at the beginning that for me it was bittersweet, because as much as I enjoyed it , I found myself looking around the room, the same place we have gathered on & off for over 2o years (Scottsboro Community Center) and realizing how many faces were missing. Some who couldn’t make it and some who were hopefully there in spirit. I watched the home movies with giggles and holding back a few tears at times when the TV screen filled with our loved ones that have moved on to Heaven… gone but definitely never forgotten <3

 

 

My cousin Gail Williams has been working on our Family Tree for some time now and her hard work was on display that day. Let me tell ya, our roots are deep, our trunk is wide and the branches are plentiful! Glory to God! Let me say that I am honored to be included on one of those branches……..  



 

Like a tree, a family is a living thing. It flourishes in the Summer, sheds its Autumn glory, endures the rough Winter and lives to grow again. For me that means when we gather, whether it be 2 or 82 of us, we Flourish (to sustain continuous steady strong growth) We Shed God’s glory on one another for we are all embedded with the belief in Christ as our Savior, We Endure our heartbreaking loses & troubled times by leaning on one another, literally and in Prayer (people, Prayer is AWESOME!) and each year we have tiny new additions that keeps our tree alive & growing.

Without roots and that enduring love & support we wouldn’t be who we are or where we are. There is a little piece of each and every one of us growing upward in our Family Tree. So from me to ALL of you I say Thank you and I Love you!