Blog Post #11 June 25 - July 6. Off the boat, and family, new and old.

From the Albany Yacht Club we set off by automobile to East Aurora NY, my hometown, and our first night off the boat in 13 weeks. The East Aurora crew has family get togethers several times a year, but for some reason the organizing women seemed particularly insistent that I come to this one, and the timing worked well with our location, so we came.

This was Joel’s first time to the ancestral home, something about which he has taken a great deal of grief about for years, so Mary McCutcheon (niece but one year older ) greeted him with a banner, an EA tee shirt and hat, and several books about the area’s illustrious past and present.

Downtown EA, near the famous Vidlers 5&10, Joel's kind of store. Note Vidlers suspenders, one of numerous pairs

Joel having a moment with Elbert Hubbard, Hubbard, EA's most famous son. Philosopher and founder of the Roycroft community which published books journals and Mission furniture among other things. He described himself as an anarchist and a socialist, although for some reason we missed that part of his resume as kids. The community was a haven for radicals, free thinkers, reformers, and suffragists. He and his wife went down on the Lusitania in1915. 

L. Sister Jane, Sara Buckley, mother of the indomitable Eloise. R. Mary McCutcheon, me, Joel

 at The Bakery

Eloise, at Vidlers. where a dime gets you a horse ride. Eloise took to the horse with joy and amazement until a moment of almost terror, at which point she would leap into Grandma Rita's arms, for 5 seconds, and then back to the horse for another 10 seconds. Repeat sequence for probably 30 cents worth. We all got our money's worth watching this one.

It was great to see and hang with various relatives over the weekend, but the reason for the urgency was revealed at the official gathering on Sunday.

Three nieces and my childhood companions, Rita, Barb, Mary & me

Just as the eating was getting underway, a passel of people I had never seen before came in, and Barbara Carr (another one year older niece) took the stage to introduce us to heretofore unknown family. When Barbara was 16 she gave birth to a baby daughter, and here at last was her daughter,  and her daughters children, and their children! They had both tried to find each other for many years, and finally, just a few months ago, it happened. It was a total surprise to most of us in the room, and amazing, emotional moment.

Family!

Barbara and I were very close at the time she got pregnant, and yet she was forbidden to tell me what was going on. She suddenly went to live with her grandmother for the school year. Why I thought this was plausible at the time is a mystery. I would get letters, very bland ones, with a return address from Cape Cod where her grandmother lived. Shame, secrecy, and lies were all pervasive. The acute betrayal by adults  was compounded by their refusal to let me visit her when I finally discovered what was going on.  To my mother’s credit, she had wanted to tell me from the beginning, but the other adults prevailed upon her to lie, until circumstances compelled her tell the truth. Of course my trauma was nothing compared to what Barb went through.

So here is Diane, brought up in a nearby town with a great family of her own. Nice, nice people, it all felt very relaxed and right. Not all reunion stories are happy, but this one was. I am so glad I was there, thank you Mary for the nudges!

Suddenly four generations!

Back to Maine for dentists, doctors, and taxes… and gardens. one week, in and out. It was lovely see friends and family dinners with  Cathie and Mike and Margy and Steve, and Nat and Julie. All well with the house, yard, gardens and cat, thank you Bria, Ernie, and Debs’!

Dinner with Nat & Julie at the River Side Farm Market & Cafe. We can't seem to leave the water.

Pot luck Fourth of July at Nat & Julies, where we shared what the Declaration of Independence meant to us.

And here is another beautiful river...the Kennebec, at Hallowell, Maine.