Family

The farm in Oklahoma was where dad spent many a happy moments of childhood. The week he passed he asked to be laid to rest in the family cemetary, it's walking distance from the farm. After laying dad to rest we spent the rest of the day at the farm with family. Multiple times today I found myself looking around to see where dad had gotten off to only to come back to the harsh reality that dad is gone. Well and truly gone. Dad would have had a million stories, most of which I had heard over and over again about the antics he and his cousin Jan got up to on the farm. One of my favorites was how he and Jan would get on my great grandma's horse Ribbion and ride over to the local watermelon farmers to steal watermelon. They found as 8 year old kids if they got that watermelon on the horses back and dropped it the whole thing would bust open so they could eat the heart out of it. The best part of a watermelon.

As I was growing up we went to the farm for Thanksgiving and special occasions, like 50th wedding anniversaries. I know I was never here without dad, definitely bittersweet today.

The photo is a small portion of family. Front row left to right: Max (my brother), Jesse, Ashton, Marin, Carol (my mom), Lacey. Back row: Jan, Kyle, Glenna, Charlie, Donna, Melissa (my sister), Saúl and me. I'm holding Lane and the small boy between rows to Bodie. Bodie is Lacey's boy. Marin and Lane are Max and Ashton's kids. I loved seeing the people even if the day was emotional ride.