The Family Tree

This past weekend my Mimi (my mom's mom, my grandma), my mom and her three sisters, three of my female cousins, and one of my cousin's daughters traveled to Louisianna to visit my Grandmimi (my mom's grandma, my great grandma). In total, we were five generations of women spanning 2 to 96 years old. Here I am with my mom, Mimi, and Grandmimi - four generations.

As could be expected of a group of women, there was an abundance of food, oodles of sweets, and a never endings stream of coffee. We feasted like queens!

We also played dominos, but only when we weren't discussing how to play dominos or making ridiculously silly comments. Only women would put up with so many distractions during a game of dominoes.

I love this picture of Grandmimi and Raelynn bridging the technology-age-gap.

We figured out that Grandmimi has 7 children, 25 grandchildren, 38 great grandchildren, and 6 great great grandchildren, with all but three of those individuals living. Obviously, we were just a fraction of her heirs, even when family from the area joined us.

When someone asked Grandmimi how she remembers all these names, grandmimi explained that she prays for everyone at night. Sometimes she falls asleep praying for everyone, so she starts over when she wakes up.

In the evening, everyone sat in a circle and prayed together. We took turns sharing what we enjoyed about the weekend. Not surpisingly, this caused some of us to cry, which caused others to cry, and so on. When it was Grandmimi's turn to speak, the room fell silent. Everyone was intent on hearing every precious word Grandmimi spoke. With her hands clenching the blanket on her lap, she cleared her throat and pursed her lips. Now we were on the edge of our seats. Then, with her weak and quivering voice, she said "I'm sure Jesus heard everything you said, but I didn't hear a thing." And then everyone was laughing again.

When Grandmimi prayed with us, she thanked God for the most joyous occasion she's had in so, so long. When I got home, I also thanked God for the most joyous occassion I've had in a long time. My family rocks.

And now its time to hit the gym. No woman can eat that much sugar in one weekend and not pay for it the next week.