Neighbor Joyce invited me to go to her family reunion in the next county, and I had the most delightful time. We began in the little one-room schoolhouse that also served as a church. The people who came the furthest were from Arizona and Nebraska. Following the bulletin, we stood and pledged allegiance to the flag. I remembered most of the words, although I don’t think I’ve done it on a regular basis for 68 years. We sang two hymns, had a responsive Bible reading, and watched the unveiling of two sets of photos.

One by one we stood up to say our names and how we were related to Barak Norton. I explained that my next door neighbor invited me. Although I wasn’t on their family tree, I was related to all of them about halfway back to Adam and Eve.

There was a big tent set up beside the schoolhouse, and that’s where we had a royal potluck, brought by all of us. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect at a Sunday lunch after a church service out in the country. We ate fried chicken, meatballs, sandwiches, wraps, pasta salads, baked beans, green beans, macaroni and cheese, fresh fruit, and cornbread. And the desserts!! There were cookies, a decorated bundt cake, Brownies, at least three lemon pies, pudding, blueberry cake, and fruit bread. What a feast!

I talked to people from Nebraska and Georgia who were sitting near me. It was fun to listen to Joyce chat with a fairly close relative, although I missed lots of that conversation. The decibel level had risen quite high after we ate all that food.

We left as everyone else was leaving and had a lovely drive back through gorgeous mountains. My app showed we had gone about 60 miles each way. What a marvelous day it had been!