Sunday, August 14, 2022

Who is the social head of your family?

This weekend I attended a very nice family celebration, so reminiscent of my entire childhood. Back then my mom presided over the family activities; she was the glue that held us all together. All that was missing this weekend, beside all those old familiar relatives, was a lively card game around the picnic table.

Here is a picture Shelly's best friend took for me. From left to right, my daughter, Shelly; my sister, Janice; myself, the long time writer of this blog; and my daughter, Beth.


We were at Shelly's house to celebrate Shelly's graduation from Ursuline College with an MSN degree; she is a nurse practitioner. The state boards, her last requirement, are set for a month from now.

Shelly is the mother of four of my grandchildren, one of whom lives here in this house where I rent a room. Kay, the house owner, has become the ad hoc guardian of that grandchild, too old to legally need a guardian, but her attention is appreciated. Many long time readers will remember I had custody of those three youngest children until each became 18 years of age.

Beth is the mother of my other two grandchildren, Francis and Caroline. France begins his second year of college in a few more days and Caroline starts her first year in a few days. Some of you followed France on his hiking and biking adventures. He wrote a blog, Summit, on a difficult to access platform, covering his trips on trails in this country (the Great Divide Mountain bike trail, Canada to Mexico) and the Ho Chi Min trail in Vietnam, all before he turned 18. That one made his mother crazy. 

Caroline begins college at Macalester, in St. Paul, Minnesota this year. She's the one for whom I took up sweater knitting again, though France in Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, probably qualifies for cold, too. I have no current pictures of these two, or of any grandchildren, these days. I perused Facebook for some old pictures. 


Here are Francis, Beth, my dear friend Ruth, who is the mother of my son-in-law, Bill, to Ruth's left. They met France somewhere in the Appalachians, at the end of a Francis bike trip, to drive him home. Or perhaps they met him for lunch and he pedaled his way home.

I thought I had a current picture of Caroline, a camera avoider, but I cannot seem to find it. Here she is a few years ago, on one of her father's backpacking trips. She lost no time finding other places to go, like to Grandma Ruth's house.


Her mother is taking the picture. Caroline is the epitome of enthusiasm here. She has grown to a sterling young woman who would have a place in that very first picture. I named that picture The Lytle Women, as each of us is unquestionably a descendent of my parents. Beth named her daughter Caroline Lenore, in honor of that grandparent, and Caroline is my mother's great granddaughter, for sure.

When Ruth, Caroline and I go to lunch this Tuesday, I'll do my best to get a picture of the three of us. I bet Caroline can do selfies.

36 comments:

  1. What a family network! I suspect you're the linchpin of this family, Joanne. And thank you for the pictures and bios.

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    1. Actually, the lynchpin is my sister, Jan. She's ten years younger.

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  2. Hari Om
    this is a joyous post! Congrats to Shellley for her achievement. I have been around long enough to recall the history and this update delights me... And must surely please you still more!!! YAM xx

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  3. What a great photo of your daughters and sister. Well done to Shelly on her achievement.

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  4. I remember the photo from Caroline's graduation. When she refused to adhere to the dress code that applied only to females. I suspect that that behavior is what earns her the recognition as her great grandmother's descendent. I wonder what she is majoring in? And, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed following France. Was disappointed to find that he took the blog down.

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    1. How nice to hear from you!
      Each is attending a liberal arts college, and we're probably looking at philosophy majors.
      France ended the blog in that snowstorm on the Great Divide in, I think, Utah. It's still there, but ended two years ago.

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  5. Oh how wonderful! We don't often get to see the relatives of those we follow and become friends with. Love your family!!! And the bit about the grandson doing all of those hazardous hikes before the age of 18 was a mind-blower!! Just love this. Thank you from the bottom of my (soon to be wired) heart! LOL

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  6. That is a great achievement! I quail at the amount of work and study that must have entailed. I love the photos! I treasure any pictures of family together these days.

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    1. There were a lot of tears and tooth gnashing, and untold moral support from my sister and her sister.

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  7. Nice pictures, Joanne. The titular head of our family is now Kate, who you've met online. She's a good matriarch, and does the role well. Hope you're well, and weathering out the summer. I'm looking forward to fall.

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    1. How nice to hear from you. We've had only one heat wave this summer. It's a 79 high today. I must catch up with your politics on the side.

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  8. I enjoy seeing pictures like that - I get to put a face to a name. I have a lot of respect for nurse practitioners- I’ve met a fantastic one and she told me they aren’t paid per patient, they are paid by salary ( here, anyway) , so they can spend longer times with their patients than doctors generally do. - Jenn

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  9. Thanks for the update. In that first photo there's a DEFINITE family resemblance.

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  10. A lovely snapshot of members of a fine family. My brothers do not get along, and communicate through me. I suppose that makes me the social glue, but I wouldn't claim the title of social head. Sadly I think we are headless and often adrift.

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  11. Francis is always an amazement to me with his ability to ride long distances in less than great conditions. What an interesting life he has lead so far.

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    1. He is extraordinarily mature, and so practical. And six feet tall. Reminds me of my father.

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  12. These are great family photos Joanne. I'd say you are an excellent role model given all your accomplishments. Your upcoming lunch with Ruth and Caroline sounds like good fun.

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  13. What a great family! The social head of our family is my sister. I am so glad for her.

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  14. I miss those large family reunions.

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  15. I'd forgotten about Francis and Caroline.

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  16. You are a family of strong and supportive women.You are lucky.

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  17. It's nice to see so many of the people in your family.

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  18. I am the youngest - my sister was 22 years older than me and my brother 11 years older - both long since gone. I only have one son, who lives nearby and he has three children one of whom lives in China. But I did see my eldest grand daughter a few weeks ago with her husband and their two children - a great delight.

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  19. It's nice to see the photo of the family. Faces to names. I am head of just me.

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  20. Thanks for telling the story, Joanne. Every family has its own joys, drama, successes and disappointments.

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  21. When you go to lunch, get the server to take the picture.

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  22. Big family - I have fallen out with many of mine! My daughter is now also training as a nurse, having given up a well-paid job in order to do more good in the world. My granddaughter is working at Macdonalds at weekends "saving up for her future", she says.

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  23. Wonderful family photos! And congrats to Shelly on becoming a nurse practitioner! Such a great profession!

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  24. Big congratulations to Shelly! That is one tough degree to get and I admire her for having the perseverance to achieve it. I'm glad you could all get together to celebrate.

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  25. Yes, congratulations to Shelley. I'm surprised you were included. The old animosities fading away? You are just a slip of a girl in comparison. My side of the family is so small, we only get together for Thanksgiving. Marc's side of the family mostly resided in Dallas now and we quit going to their big get togethers. Weren't even invited to the last one but that might have been because I unfriended one of his cousins (it was a birthday party for him) on FB when he became a Trump supporter. Now it's our neighbor Edith who plans and holds our little neighborhood get togethers.

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  26. Good to have family photos ..looking forward to our bigger family get togethers starting again. A lot of the family heads have gone now...but one of my dad's cousins...who is only a little older than me..is good at organising us all! Getting my four together seems impossible nowadays. You are fortunate

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  27. My parents were as one person for family events. Few pictures though. We didn't have extra money to buy film and have it processed.

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  28. My Dad was the social head of the family. He knew the family lore like the back of his hand. He also kept in close contact with his cousins, so that we were always attending events with our second cousins (and even grand aunts and uncles).

    Thank you for sharing photos of your fam. It's always nice to put a face to the name.

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  29. Lots of great meet-ups there. Nice to see so many of your family members.

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  30. I'm so happy for all your family time, Joanne. Thank you for sharing all these great photos.

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