Every year for as long as I can remember, my mother’s side of the family has taken a day trip to lake Easton State Park for a summer gathering. As a child this was a venue to see relatives I knew very little about; people like my grandfather’s nephew by his younger brother, or some of the wild grandchildren of a distant aunt. In recent years, Lake Easton has become the venue for celebrating the birth of my only surviving grandparent; Carolyn Elder.
Known for the last 12 years as great-grandma, Carolyn is a link to so much more than just family. She is our anchor to America’s past, a witness to the depression and war era United States, and a lifelong participant in the American Dream. She embodies what has become known as the Greatest Generation, and she is still passing milestones as one impervious to statistics. 
The family gathered around my Uncle Norman, as always seems to happen, to participate in some lively discourse. Carolyn and I had our own small side-conversation. ”I sure would like to see another train,” she began, looking across the lake. We spoke like two friends who were returning again to the pleasure of rare company, and I realized that my grandmother’s perception of me has changed recently. At 36 years old, I’m not a kid anymore. 
My great-aunt Janice feels the same way, and I feel a new level of connection with each of them.
albaniacalling 
I have no idea what this would be like. I grew up apart from any extended family. So much separation in fact that if I had the opportunity to see any of them now I would likely choose to do something else instead. All my family are just strangers to me and the whole idea of knowing anything about them or even wanting to seems foreign to me. How strangely unique one persons existence is from another’s, how one person’s normal is unimaginable to someone else. I’m glad you have this kind of connection with your extended family.
I used to think my family was normal, when I was a child. The older I get, the more I am able to appreciate how unique my experience growing up has been. I can’t imagine who or where I would be without these relationships. Thank you for sharing Gary.