We are not much on family reunions. It is usually when someone dies. To have a reunion just to be having one is not something our family does. So, when I got an email from some cousins in Richmond, Virginia to have a reunion, I said okay. One thing I found was I didn't fit into my dress pants anymore and had to buy new clothes. I was no longer the same size I was in the 8th grade. That was a surprise.
As I was living in Greenville and having a questionable car, they told me that they would pay for my plane ticket and motel in Richmond. The last time that I flew out of the Greenville/Spartanburg airport was in 1973 on the start of our trip to Europe. The airport had changed some by 2008. I am not the best kind of airplane passenger. I loaded up on stomach medication and gum to tolerate the flight. The trick of chewing gum upon takeoff and landing was something I learned during our Europe trip. The plane did not go directly to Richmond. We flew from Greenville to Cleveland, Ohio before flying to Richmond. That didn't make much sense to me, but you just deal with it.
I had not flown after 9/11, so I knew there would be extra security. I knew to wear loafers for shoes, but I didn't know they wanted me to take off my belt, too. So, I emptied out my pockets and held up my pants to keep them up. The security was tight, and then I was put in a holding area before the plane was ready to board. We left Greenville and flew over some beautiful farmland. I had never been to Ohio before. The farms turned into an industrial city of Cleveland. It was kind of dirty looking from the air. Maybe it was nicer on the ground. We landed at the airport there, and I had just a few minutes to make my connection to Richmond.
When we got to Richmond, one of my cousins picked me up and took me to the motel. I had never met him before, and I found that I didn't know many there. The motel was nice, and I went exploring. He would pick me up the next day and take me to his house for the start of the reunion. The next day was Saturday, and we all got acquainted. We talked about our families. This was the Merrill side, which was my Mother's side of the family, but most of my cousins came from a branch that was related through my Grandfather who was married before he married my Grandmother.
One of the things I learned was about a goldmine we owned in Alabama. I was shocked. No one had ever mentioned anything about a goldmine. I saw aerial pictures of it. One of my cousins mentioned that they had gone through some papers that my Uncle Carl had. We was an attorney. After he died, they had found the deed to the goldmine. It seemed to still be valid, although the mine had been tapped out of gold, so they said. It is neat to have a goldmine in the family, but it doesn't seem to be worth anything anymore. If I'm ever down that way, I might take a pick and shovel just to see if they got it all.
That Sunday, we went to the Jefferson Hotel for lunch. It was really swanky. They told me that the grand staircase in the hotel was the model for the Tara staircase in "Gone With the Wind". The stairs were steep, so one had to be extra careful not to tumble down them. After lunch, we took a bus tour of downtown Richmond. We saw a lot of historical things, and went by the First Baptist Church. My father had been on staff there around 1950, before they moved to New Orleans. One of my older cousins bragged that my father built the educational building of that church. I know he designed some churches, when he got to South Carolina, but I don't know how true my cousin's story was. It was interesting. As an editorial comment now, I would like to say that I oppose the taking down of the monuments in Richmond. I'm sorry if that offends anyone. We also got to see where Edgar Allan Poe lived. That was cool.
On Monday, it was time to fly back to Greenville by way of Cleveland. I thanked my cousins for their hospitality. When the plane got to Cleveland, there was a little layover. I explored the terminal and then got back for boarding. An announcement was made that the plane had some mechanical issues that needed to be fixed before leaving. We watched them work on an engine. It probably would have been better to just bring up another plane, but they didn't have any. When it was time to board, we all got on kind of reluctantly. We eventually took off for Greenville. As we approached the airport, off to our left were some hot air balloons floating around. They had a festival that day. We landed at the airport, and I was very glad to get my feet back on the ground. It was good to see some family I never knew existed before.
No comments:
Post a Comment