21st Family Gathering

Holly opened her arms and welcomed us to our annual family picnic/barbeque last Saturday. The pool was cool on that hot day in Nevada City.

Davis and Victor drove me up to the gathering. We stopped at a marvelous bakery in Sacramento called Freeport Bakery on our way. If you are ever in the area be sure to stop by for their delicious flaky pastries.

Holly and Jon’s house was the new gathering location this year. It is a lovely place. It was so good to get hugs from everyone. I hadn’t seen little Joey, my great grandson, since May of last year. He and his dad (my grandson, Joseph) are handsome fellows.

Here is a photo of my brother-in-law Butch (on the left) and Jon (on the right).

I wondered why Butch was using a cane. He is the guy that goes on 100-mile bike rides several times a month and shorter ones several times a week. I asked him about the cane and he told me, “They were having a hip-replacement sale in Truckee on Thursday, so I rode my bike there and got one.” What?

Yes, he really had a hip replacement on Thursday, July 15th and was walking around at the family party on Saturday, the 17th. He had his x-rays to prove it and his wife, Virginia, verified it.

He told the real story. He did go up to Truckee on Thursday for a long bike ride. He stopped for coffee and when he got back on his bike to continue his ride, the wheel hit a rock and he went down with the bike. He called Virginia on his cell phone. She was on her way to the Sacramento airport to pick up her daughter and grandsons who were flying in for the family gathering. He, or someone standing by, called 911 and Butch was taken to the hospital. Virginia rushed up the mountains from Sacramento.

Butch said the Truckee hospital is really good for broken bones because it is in a ski resort area and deals with lots of them in the winter. That very afternoon, Butch was in surgery having a hip replacement. The doctors gave him permission to leave the hospital on Friday because his recovery was remarkable and they trusted him to do his exercises.

Butch is looking forward to stationary bike exercises, which he can start in two weeks. That is a story no one will be able to top at next year’s gathering.

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Nephew Michael drove up from Southern California and took some beautiful candid portraits. He gave me permission to “borrow” some of them from his Flicker site.