Family Time

It has been years since my wife and her family had a reunion.  The last time we had such a gathering was decades ago.

This year, one of the cousins took the responsibility to organize a long overdue get together.  Although most members still live in Central PA., some will come from as far away as Iowa, and Colorado.  Harrisburg International Airport may be as busy as the last time the Penn State football team returned from a bowl game.

The day will be one of telling old jokes, embellishing stories from our childhood, and catching up on the lives of other members of the family?

My wife has been looking forward to this trip for months.  Our oldest daughter and two grandsons will be with us.  The only one not going is our son-in-law, who will be broadcasting the #1 daily sports talk radio show (104.3 The Fan) in the Denver market.

We are flying into Philadelphia first for a day touring the historical district.  We also plan to relive the scene from the 1976 Oscar-winning movie Rocky.  Watch this blog for images of us running (some of us may walk) the 72 famous "Rocky Steps" to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

We will spend time at the nationally recognized Civil War Museum in Harrisburg.  Research has confirmed my great grandfather was a member of the 76th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, Keystone Zouaves.  The museum has an exhibit of a Zouvave uniform worn in the war. 

We have been sharing information about their brave forefather, who at 18, volunteered for a three-year tour of duty, in the Union Army.  He survived furious fighting at Cold Harbor, helped destroy miles of Richmond and Petersburg RR track, and fought in the filthy trenches around Petersburg. 

His most harrowing exploit occurred aboard ship for the return to Philadelphia.  The vessel shipwrecked. He and many fellow soldiers jumped into the sea, losing all his clothing.  After six hours on a Moorhead City, N. C. beach, the men were rescued.  Five days later, the men returned to their families.      

The trip will culminate with the reunion before we return to Philadelphia for the flight back to Denver.  My trip report will be posted here on this blog sometime during the week of May 21st.