Speaking of get-togethers...

We haven't nailed down a definite date yet, but my youngest sister, Monica, her husband, Luis Carlos, and 10-month-old son, Sebastian, are planning to visit another sister, Ivonne, in New Jersey and then come to Tennessee to see their brother, Steve. We have been in contact since 2006, but Ivonne and I will be meeting Monica for the first time. Monica had never met our father - she saw him for the first time at his funeral in 2002. She contacted us four years later and informed us of his death.

Ivonne and I have met twice this year; before that, it had been 44 years since we saw each other in Venezuela. Then there are Mark and Matthew, who Monica knows but Ivonne and I haven't met... not to mention Lorena, who has met Mark, Matthew, and Monica but not the rest of us. Then there is Lloyd, who shares the same mother and father with Ivonne, and Cliff and Kyle, who share both my mother and father. Confusing, eh? This is our father's legacy - nine kids, separated by a lot of miles, different languages and cultures, and just itching to share our stories.

Separation anxiety

Some readers have no doubt noticed I haven't mentioned my grandson lately. We were saddened by the fact that he was suddenly living five hours away from us, and it took a while for the new grandparents to adjust.

We just spent the weekend with our daughter and her husband, who are now working in Murfreesboro and staying with his mother and stepfather until they can find a house. Little Jesse is 11 weeks old and doing fine. It's not easy dealing with the separation, but we did get to spend some quality time and we know they are doing well.

We will plan to get together again.

Joyful Day is a blog about my family. In order to get the most out of it, go back to the earliest entry on March 1, 2010, then proceed forward chronologically. I have traced back in history with some fascinating stories, but the main focus of this blog is the journey toward that future day when a family of diverse individuals from varied backgrounds will find one another and share who we are, where we have come from, and our dreams and desires.

We are all the children of one father, who I am sure was not the father any of us would have wished for...

Yet Lloyd Burwick was an interesting character, to say the least. I found out only recently that he was fond of the theater and participated in a group of actors in Maracaibo, Venezuela through the 1960s and '70s. I never knew this until my Aunt Betty sent me some old playbooks containing pictures of him and his fellow actors. I though it was interesting that one playbill showed a photo of a Carol Howdyshell opposite a picture of my father.

We have Howdyshells in our family history. Was he even aware that one of his fellow actors in a play in Venezuela might have been distantly related? I have seen stranger things happen.