Family Reunion

We had a Jones family reunion last weekend. Wow, what a great turnout. We lost two cousins last year and we had a moment of remembering these precious lives. Our theme this year was Celebration of Life and I wrote a poem. Each family sent pictures to cousin Denise and along with her brother Rick put together a pictorial history of the family and handed out DVD's. We watched video of past gatherings and a lot of the aunts and cousins were in the video that are now watching from the best seats in Heaven. It was bittersweet seeing them laughing and having fun. Rick's wife sang Ten Thousand Angels. The music wouldn't play and bless her heart, she sang it without the music. She did a beautiful job. I'm sure I would have been shaking like a leaf. I love to sing but I get nervous when I sing a solo. I need other voices to be bold.

We had tons of great food. If you put one teaspoon of each dish on your plate, you would need 3 plates at least. I tried to hold it down to one plate and I missed our own corn dish. Everything was delicious.

I gave a short speech about getting tested for the BRCA-2 gene mutation since it is present in our family and I think everyone should be tested. That way if you do not have the mutation you quit worrying about having it and if you are positive, you can take precautions so you will not have to get cancer or at least you can catch it fast like I did.

After the reunion, my cousin Tommy and his wife Sherry, and Denise and her kids came over and we had so much fun. If laughter is the best medicine, we all had big dose of it. Sherry couldn't believe our craft room. We call it Mini-Michael's. We could open our own craft store. We are still organizing and pics will be added soon. Hopefully. That is in our plans for today.

I will also be checking the Internet to see what is good to eat and not good to eat for osteoarthritis, diabetes, acid reflux, and high cholesterol. Then I am going to make a chart and see what overlaps. Hopefully there will be enough items left on good side so I can go shopping. I really need to lose some weight and I'm sure anything on the good list will be less fattening. I've been eating berries and walnuts this week. I am getting back to nature. Mmm. I really like that stuff. I may plant a berry vine.

I updated my www.caringbridge.org/visit/karenarthur blog yesterday. Feel free to read about my latest doctor visits.

Now, here is the poem I wrote for the reunion. I hope you enjoy it.

Celebrate Life

copyright Karen Arthur, March 27, 2009

Celebrate life while you’re here today,
Don’t take it for granted or throw it away.
For we’re born, we live, and then we die.
But there’s much more to the measure of life.
When born we’re under a parents care.
Taught how to live, taught how to share.
How to walk, to talk and act.
Follow the example, stay on track.
We live, we love, we laugh, we cry.
We can’t give up ‘til we get it right.
We praise, we worship, we bless God’s name.
We raise our children to do the same.
No one knows just where it went
Yet health begins its steep descent.
Bones get brittle and bodies ache.
Hard to believe we deteriorate.
Memories fade as years roll away
It seems like youth was yesterday.
Then time is up and we must go
But it isn’t death that takes us home.
For life is on the other side,
Believe in the Son, He’ll be your guide.
We’re born to live again with Him.
Our life has meaning, a hidden gem.
Leave a legacy behind
For loved ones left to surely find.