Family Picnic

The question is, whose family is it?

My father's family were record keepers and savers of family history. OilMan and I inherited boxes of old photographs, (mostly grim faced couples--I don't think it was considered proper to smile for the camera) letters, family trees, and diplomas, from my father's side of the family. I have just been delving through a box of letters written by Mary Plum Eastman, my great grandmother.

They seemed a stern bunch, more concerned by how they would be remembered, than by how they were living their lives. There was a handwritten will leaving , "to my son …my house and lot in Berkeley…No 2847 Fulton St. My watch I promised to Richard and the Geographic Magazines and the picture of the cows…." I believe my father, Richard, was born in that house on Fulton street. I wonder what ever happened to the picture of the cows?

Of my mother's family I know very little, other than the fact that I was named for her mother, Jennie Finley, that she had four older brothers, and a sister who was a nurse and died in the Spanish Influenza epidemic in 1918. There are no letters, probably because, if there were any, they would have been left to one of my uncles. Apparently the county courthouse in Salem burned to the ground turning any record of my mother's birth to ashes. My memories of my mother's family come from her stories about them, because there are no written records of them.

Years ago, I found the picture in today's blip in a box in our attic, and was charmed by it. So charmed by it, in fact, that I had it framed and hung it on the wall in my office, even though I have no idea who these people are. The picture makes me smile. Despite the range in ages, everyone seems to be relaxed and having a good time. I love the horses' "shawls", probably designed to keep off the flies. There is no way all those people could have traveled in one surrey…how did they all get there? What are they celebrating?

Against all logic, I have a strong conviction that these were my mother's people. I feel very connected to them.