My sister Bonnie and her husband, Frank, spent four days here, and are now headed back home to Montana. We spent most of our time just sitting around talking, going through old-old family photos of great-great grandparents, and eating.
Our ancestry goes back to Germany and Wales, and once our ancestors got here, a smattering of other races entered the gene pool, making our children look very ethnic, mixed.
My Dad's old drawings, floorplans of houses, and geneology lists covered the table. It is a goal of mine to figure out his family line, if that is possible, to see where we get these unusual noses, kinky hair, high cheekbones, and slight frames. It is a wonderment, seeing women five generations back, with ten children, in the most straight-laced, solid, stern images, and then the image of Bonnie and I at the same age, wearing REI down jackets, fleece vests and sweatpants.
Bonnie showed family photos of the old ghost town of Gilman, Montana, where our great grand parents owned the Hotel. When the Great Northern Railroad was built, and didn't go through the town, Gilman shut down and the old Hotel was moved to Augusta. A lot of our relatives live in ranching and farming communities around Augusta.
We also went through some old slides, showing my mom's 1957 Thunderbird, our parent's homes on Flathead lake, and all of the kids when they were little. Time sure catches up with you, when you get to be our age. We laughed at all the old fashions, the outrageous hairstyles. And we remembered a lot of good times. I'll have to say that now is the best time of all - much of the hard work is done, and the children are grown, sharing the laughter and stories.
