2010 Goodman Cousin Reunion

I had rented a cute little house for 2 nights on Lake Cherokee, and Jim and Marley went with me; the weather was balmy and dry, the streets were strewn with color-splashed autumn leaves, and the Kia was packed with food and gold & burgundy decorations, pretty darn perfect so far, huh? Almost. I was taking Maxalt for the migraine that started on Thursday, and it's a toss-up which is worse, the pain or the meds because they make me so spaced I shouldn't operate heavy machinery, and I kept praying, just let it go away long enough for me to get through the reunion!

I woke up Saturday morning so sick, I thought about swinging by the Omaha Center, dropping off my decorations, registry, food, etc., and heading home but decided to make an appearance and leave early, very early...........but I got involved with setting up the long tables, 10 for dining and 5 for pot luck dishes, and sometime around noon I realized that I felt pretty good. I learned later that my sister Nan and my mom had held hands and prayed for the migraine to leave. I don't know how you feel about prayer, but I've always believed.

I have a big family. My grandparents had 9 children, most of whom had 3 children, but one child had 9 children, and one of those had 9 children. Add that to the fact that most of us cousins now have grandchildren and even great grandchildren, and you've got yourself a gathering! While our parents were all alive and healthy, they kept us connected, but we've dropped the connection, and we talked about how we should get together, but it hasn't happened until now. I get teary-eyed when I think about how my happy family poured into the room, smiles all 'round, hugs and laughter and picking up as if we'd never skipped a beat!


Everyone thanked Linda and me for finally making this happen and most asked that we make it a yearly event. I love the stories everyone has, memories of yesterday and would love to gather them and put them in a little book. I collect pretty picture frames, and I put old family photos in them and arranged them among the centerpieces. Some brought family scrapbooks, a recipe book, and a couple of digital frames with slide shows. There was a table for photos of the cousins we've lost. Danny provided live music.

We pushed folks outdoors for a group photo, which was about like herding earthworms; I'm supposed to PhotoShop myself into the group, but I haven't found one with me in it yet. I count about 50 in this group photo, but our headcount was closer to 100, so that leaves lots of Goodman descendants milling about in the woods. I've only posted a few pics here. You can go nuts trying not to leave out anyone, so if someone's not here, I've got you somewhere in my computer.




My son came to the Reunion! I hadn't expected him; if nobody else had come, it would have been a fun day, just him and me chatting. Sorry, but you moms know exactly what I mean. I snapped pics here and there with my little pocket camera and realized afterwards that I should have taken the Canon Rebel out of the car and handed it to my Dave, who's a very good photographer. Oh well. A few folks who could have come, didn't; you know who you are, and you also know we still love you. It was one of the happiest days of my life, and I felt good, just hope I didn't call you Judy if your name is Fred or connect you with the wrong siblings. Hey, I'm 62, and I was on drugs.

Tres has expressed interest in planning the 2011 reunion, along with cousin Debbie. If they do, ours will be like their open act. Knowing those two, I fully expect to have high wire acts, a full sized carousel, and Amy Grant as entertainment..........P.S. Several cousins mentioned that it was high time Marley did a blog post. Coming soon.