Road Trip Day 3: Family

Finally! A day to chill out and be with family. (If "chillin" is possible in the 104 degree heat of the St. George red rocks....) Other than cooking a big birthday dinner with my sibs for my mother's 91st birthday, there was not much else to do. It was an opportunity to connect with Uncle Charlie's 2 children (both from different marriages), my cousins, Rick and Sharlene-- among the few invited dinner guests.

I have gratitude for growing up with cousins who I count as precious extended sisters and brothers. We spent holidays and summers together in Pine Valley and St. George, riding horses and hayracks, making treehouses, doing sleepovers, selling lemonade, hiking, backpacking and having experiences all too few children get to have these days. No computer games or TV there-- besides there were more fun things to do like riding in the jeep at night spotting deer, digging nightcrawlers for fishing the next day and walks to the general store for Big Sticks and ice cream. And of course all the great stories our aunts and uncles would tell about when THEY were children. When we grew up, we were there at each other's weddings, family reunions and continued visiting as aunts, uncles and grandparents aged.

Sharlene is the oldest of all of us. She expresseded over and over again how much she appreciated I and my sibs being there during this time of transition for her. There were a few unexpected disappointing events surrounding my uncle's passing which left her feeling more grateful for family that showed up in any form. She was also saddled with most of the completion of my Uncle's passing: the memorial, cleaning out his place and finalizing aspects of his will.

Sharlene's a lot like her dad both in independence and wit. While he was still with us, Uncle Charlie was walking up to Sharlene's front door via front porch one day and saw her caring for a stray cat with a warm blanket and food. He commented to her, "When I die, I want to come back as one of your cats." To which Sharlene replies "Dad, I spay and neuter".

The apple does not fall far from the tree. Such is Pickett wit.

A couple of weeks ago, my son David and I visited her after visiting my uncle for the last time. We walked out of his house, tearfully hugging each other each other, knowing we'd never see him again. We then went to Sharlene's to pay a visit. She knew David's deployment was near and shared with him a conversation she had with my father decades ago after he returned home from WWII.

"Uncle Evan" she asked. How did you make it through the War alive, when there were so many dangerous situations you were in?" To which my father responded:

"Every time I'd hear a voice say "Duck!", that's what I'd do and I learned to trust that voice."

Enough said.

Also during the same visit Sharlene shared some things about my grandmother being psychically gifted which saved both her and my grandfather's life at least once. My grandmother was also so psychically attuned and connected to my father that she knew when the invasion happeded, without being told. Sharlene said government authorities contacted her afterwards to find out how she knew.

All I can say to that is this: There is absolutely no substitute for knowing and trusting the intuition and the gut.

As for the the dinner today: we got out the silver and good china, cooked a fabulous batch of chicken cacciatore and retired downstairs afterward for music around the old piano which originally belonged to my mother's parents. Old favorites were offered on the viiolin, cello, mandolin, piano and voice-- even a favorite of my grandmother Ruthe: Mockingbird Hill.

Appreciation, hugs at the door ended our evening together. Another day in the Pickett extended family.