We ate. We laughed. We cried. Then we passed around the
Caladryl.
These are the unofficial minutes of the
Heagerty Family Reunion submitted by the unofficial secretary, Michelle Wheeler, daughter of Charlotte Wright
Meeks, daughter of Pauline
Heagerty Wright, daughter of Clarence
Heagerty.
We did manage to squeeze in a few other activities during this past weekend as my mother, her cousins and their families gathered for a reunion loaded with
genealogical fact hunting and sorting, family lore, childhood memories with a few shaky details and I'm pretty sure just some out and out lies. My mother's mother is a
Heagerty and over the weekend my mother, her brothers and their cousins through the
Heagerty line met to reunite.
You know how the words "family reunion" can send fear into the hearts of people. Well, I will admit that my family was a bit nervous when I told them of the plans. They knew they were not
acquainted with most of the family members to be present and I don't really think it helped when we warned them there may not be anyone their ages there and that these people had really loud, booming voices. I had butterflies of my own. What would we talk about? What would we do? The invitation didn't list very many activities so how would the time be filled with these strangers? Even from my own memory everyone seemed older than me. What could I possibly have in common with them? Apparently, it only took having some
Heagerty blood in us to thoroughly enjoy ourselves with these people who we call family. Any real doubts we had about whether we would have fun or not were shed quickly on Friday afternoon.
For me, it was clear that this weekend would be special as we were trying to leave Friday. I had a book that Uncle Howard had loaned me and I wanted to give Debbie. When I went to
retrieve it from the basement, I found a file folder marked
Heagerty family. I grabbed it because the invitation said to bring old photos and such to share. That is, sadly, all the thought I had put into my "sharing", but I honestly didn't think I had anything important to add. That is, until I began looking through the folder on our way to Mt. Vernon. I pulled out the pictures and tried to give my family a quick family tree. There were a few other little items--neat stuff, but not spectacular. But then, there was what appeared to be a handwritten letter. I opened it up and there was a letter from my great grandfather to my great grandmother before they were married. Now realize, I did not even know that this was in my possession. Even though this was in a folder that I clearly marked and filled, I don't think I have ever read it. I was truly amazed and excited as I read the lines he had penned while he was in Europe during World War I, telling about what he was doing and seeing and how he cared about her. I felt like God himself had tucked that letter into my file folder. When I finished it I looked back at the top and the letter was dated July 4, 1918. Then I was pretty sure God must have tucked it in there. What a special gift to read this as we were celebrating the
Heagerty family and
Independence Day all on the same weekend.
When we arrived at Mom's, Debbie already had her laptop and scanner buzzing and there was a load of pictures already there. After everyone else arrived, there was a mountain of pictures, letters that dated from 1865, newspaper clippings and even the hat and gas mask of Grandpa
Heagerty's from WWI. Everyone just seemed to dive right into the pile and the chatter. Jeff brought my mom the letter her grandpa had written and the tears began. The tears came off and on during the weekend. Tears of laughter from old home movies. Tears of pride and joy from letters, newspapers, pictures and memories. Tears for the parents the cousins have lost.
After the memorabilia session we all packed up and headed for the
Heagerty farm. Throughout the afternoon we took some detours into family cemeteries, fought off killer chiggers and looked for childhood homes. Each of these activities have tales of their own that this unofficial secretary does not have the space to document. These will have to be relayed orally through the generations. This should not be a problem for the
Heagertys.
As mentioned before, there was plenty of food. After an evening meal at the Red Barn in Mt. Vernon, the family was once again seen frequenting a cemetery and fighting off insects. This time, however, we were there to enjoy the fireworks which Rick thanked the city for providing for the
Heagerty reunion.
Into the wee hours of the morning the female cousins watched family movies and laughed and cried. We watched Brandon learn to ride his bicycle and listened to Debbie as she reported which relatives and friends and pets have gone on to glory. This unofficial secretary will also go on record as officially saying that she will not wear short shorts or bend over in the presence of a working video camera at
Heagerty get-
togethers.
Charlie, Sam, Rachel and Alex slept in the backyard fort overnight. It must have been too late a night for everyone because the scheduled noon
barbecue took place at about 3:00pm Saturday. After sharing a family prayer to thank the Lord for Christian
grandparents, family and America, we broke bread together. There was some good food and laughter.
The women folk were entertained by Sydney
Zumbiel and her "pet" dog. She also explained to Sonya where roosters come from and later collected DNA from a tree. Jeff and Alex talked baseball with Rick, Dave, Scott and Sam. We know how the
Heagerty men have always loved baseball so there were plenty of Mickey Owens stories. Even Alex has his own connection with the
Heagertys as he has a love for the game and played there for the past several years and even attended camp. Rachel had her camera and was a busy girl between snapping pictures, slapping mosquitoes and slathering
Caladryl. Shyly she made friends with Sonya who seems to have one of the quieter voices and all the possible remedies for itching bug bites. Again, under the shade trees of Mom's backyard we ate, laughed and I cried as I read a story Mom had written after Uncle Hollis passed away. And again, we passed the
Caladryl around the circle under the shade. Eventually, people began to drift back to their abodes and Mom's family plus Debbie were all that were left. Debbie took a break from scanning to eat and watch the kids' (actually Scott's) fireworks show.
Later Debbie, Mom, Rachel and I walked through the streets of Mt. Vernon watching the most beautiful fireworks display I've ever seen. It was beautiful in its simplicity. It wasn't a magnificent,
choreographed masterpiece. It was spontaneous and random. I loved that they completely surrounded us in every direction. Sometimes we'd see the whole display of color and sometimes just a glimpse of the glittery fallout tailing through the trees. I loved the sound of the
firecrackers and the kids shouting and laughing with their families all over town. I loved that I was with my family in a quiet
conversation in the middle of booms and cracks and thunders. Literal thunders, too.
Intermittent, was a lightning show and thunder ,which reminded us that God has the best fireworks show ever. We made it home before the rain to load up and say goodbyes. It was midnight and Alex and Sam were chatting up a storm, Sydney was sleeping peacefully and Rachel was helping Charlie pack up leftovers in the kitchen. Sarah and I got to say goodbye very differently this time. I said, " We'll see you in couple of weeks." Alex picked up on it right away. "That's not what you usually get to say," he interjected.
It's true. We usually part ways knowing it will be a year or so before we see each other again. In a few weeks, though, we will get to spend some time at their house. I am looking forward to it even more now than I already was. I am excited that our children are building memories together during the summers with us and their grandmother and other cousins just like Mom, Rick, Dave, Sheila, Dale, Sonya, Debbie, Ronnie, Donnie, and Bill did when they were our children's ages.
I guess I really do need to be careful about what I wear in all video camera footage because someday when these kids decide to have a family reunion, Sydney may be saying my outfit isn't a good look for me. I hope and pray our kids will stay close like the
Heagertys so they can sit around late one night and laugh at our hairstyles, wedding dresses and point out all the people who are already dead. Maybe they will even eat and laugh and cry. If they do, we'll know the Lord has answered our prayers like He did for Grandpa and Grandma
Heagerty. I truly believe they prayed for their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren to know the love of God , family and their country.
