tillyjane called mid-morning and asked if we could be at her house in the early afternoon for lunch with one of her relatives whom I'd never met. the_child, lasirenadolce and I grabbed some sottocenere al tartuffo at Pastaworks and headed over for 12:30. Aunt Elaine and her grandson Eric (an adult few years younger than me) showed up shortly thereafter.She is actually my maternal grandmother's cousin — they were both Salisburys. My maternal grandparents (the parents of
tillyjane) both died quite young, before I was born, and I grew up with my father and stepmother, so my connection to the extended part of that side of the family (beyond tillyjane and her sisters) is tenuous at best.Aunt Elaine, being my grandmother's cousin, is my first cousin twice removed, and
the_child's first cousin three times removed. She's 88 years old, still drives herself around, and is as sharp as the proverbial tack. She told a lot of family stories and spoke with tillyjane about relatives I have barely heard of.She and Eric were on a family journey. It had started some time back when the two of them had decided to go find Eric's long-lost brother. He was adopted by Elaine's daughter at the age of 5-1/2, and his older brother was adopted into a different family. They'd lost contact about 10 or 15 years ago. Elaine and Eric did some detective work, tracked down his brother, and eventually were able to reconnect. They'd set out on a road trip from her home in Altadena, CA to see the brother in southern Oregon, and decided as long as they were driving to visit relatives in the Bay Area, Corvallis, Olympia, Wenatchee and Helena.
As I said to
tillyjane afterward, it's like a William Faulkner story, but without the grim Southern Gothic. Most of the family history has Kansas roots, but their journey of discovery is very western now. It was fascinating to see someone I didn't even realize was alive, and hear about the grandparents I never knew, along with many other relatives.lasirenadolce, as is her wont, took a few pictures.
Me reading to
the_child from the manuscript of the childrens' book Elaine wrote and illustrated. Elaine asked if I knew any children's lit agents.
tillyjane and Elaine in the dining room at tillyjane's house.
The two of them on the porch.
Elaine,
tillyjane, the_child, Eric and me on the porch.
tillyjane, the_child and me on the porch.As usual, more at the Flickr set.
