A Family Reunion

The ghost of U.S. Grant may year in and out summon the tourist horde to Galena, Ill., but we went there this weekend to celebrate family -- with a grand reunion of a 25/32nds representation of the clan, immediate and extended. The occasion was to celebrate Dave and Carm's golden wedding anniversary.

As Mark so eloquently pontificated in his toast to the celebrated couple, the family has increased and decreased -- in each way markedly -- over those 50 years. But the spirit of kin past and present filled the room, and it was much more tangible than just the commonality of lineage, genealogy or last name. Even as we extolled the virtue and marvel of being married 50 years, we watched the future spill out in front of us as the next generation filled the room with shouting and play. As the cousins -- the oldest one 13 -- flailed about in the motel pool or scurried off to the game rooms, it was clear they were already about making the memories that we were reminiscing about ourselves while sitting around the dinner table a few hours earlier. And so the beat goes on from one era to the next.