Archive for the ‘Family’ Category
Family Ties
Families come in all shapes and sizes. The older that I get, the more that I realize that the important people in life are not necessarily those that I grew up with or who raised me. I am close to my extended family as I’ve spent a lot of time around my grandma’s siblings and nieces and nephews and their families.
One of the things that I inherited from my grandma is that we claim people we like as relatives regardless of bloodlines. For instance, she had a neighbor who we all called Grandma. Her name was Grandma Meinhardt. Even my grandma called her Grandma. I had no idea until she died that her real first name was Mabel. She was a very dear friend of our family. Grandma also accepted her in-laws as relatives right away. She loved inheriting nephews when her little brother’s eight daughters started getting married. She remembered everyone’s anniversaries and birthdays and always sent cards.
Claire was a dear niece of my grandma’s…Grandma loved bragging about Claire, her niece who was a nurse practitioner. I actually forget that Claire was married to grandma’s nephew, so she is actually related by marriage, accept for the fact that they aren’t married anymore. But she’s still one of my favorite cousins and always will be!
One of my all time favorite things about Claire is that she really doesn’t seem to let much bother her, and she cares so much for her four daughters (3 that she helped raise when she married their dad, and one biological).
Claire invited me on her annual New Orleans trip in June and I happily accepted! The funny part of this trip was when a friend of mine asked who I was going with. Now, I really don’t have a complicated family tree, but when you consider the fact that I’m so close to my extended family and we start getting into Grandma’s nieces and nephews and their kids, it can get a little hard to follow. So, I found myself laughing as I was explaining it.
Claire, and the oldest of the three daughters who she helped to raise, as well as the daughter’s biological mom and step dad were going to be going on the trip along with another one of our cousins. And then me, the random second cousin (I think?)…Six very different people with different personalities from various branches of the family tree living it up in the Big Easy! Half of us had been before and the other half were newbies!
We had an awesome time and the entire trip I kept thinking about how grateful that I am to be connected to these people and how they each have a unique life experience that I can learn from. It was also fun to experience New Orleans with people who had never been before!
Here I am with my unconventional family at a nice lunch at Commander’s Palace, home of the 25 cent martini! I won’t rat people out and tell how many we drank!
Another great trip in the books and another reminder of how grateful that I am for my extended family!
Why is it so Hard for Me to Remember to Count My Blessings?
For those that are around me a lot or talk to me frequently, it is no secret that I have had a lot going on with work the last few months and have been in high stress mode. If it isn’t work related, chances are, I’m not doing it. And, it is also no secret that my stress management and coping skills leave a little something to be desired. Hopefully I will start to balance out this summer.
This weekend I took a break from some of the work related demands and had the chance to spend some time with some of the most important people in my life.
Friday night, I hurried home from work at 5:00 so that I could get changed and ready to go to the wedding Mass of a long-time family friend. This friend works for the Church in young adult ministry and, although he is in his fifties, he just has an exceptional way of dealing with and relating to teenagers and young adults. There were so many great things about Friday night. First of all, I got to see two of my cousins and their families that I don’t see often because they live two hours away. One of my cousins has the sweetest three girls, one in college, one in high school, and one in elementary school and it is so fun to catch up with them and what they have going on in their lives. Their mom, although my dad’s first cousin, is like a big sister to me and has been there for me during many tough times during my life. I just love them all so much and it was great to sit with them during the wedding and then hang out at the reception.
I also got to see the groom’s daughter who is my age – we lived in the same dorm freshman year at K-State. It was fun seeing her as I maybe bump into her once ever other year or so when we are both back in her hometown where my family lives.
The wedding was very nice. The Mass was beautiful, I loved the music, and with both the bride and groom being youth leaders, they incorporated several young people into various parts of the Mass. It was very simple, with no frills, which I think allowed the couple’s love for each other and faith in God to really shine through and take center stage. It was so refreshing because I don’t know if I have ever attended a wedding quite like it. The best part was that in all the years that I have known the groom, I have NEVER seen him so happy, he was beaming with joy and it was such a great sight.
I don’t know if I will ever get married, but if I do, I have another good example of how to do it right.
I drove home at the end of the evening with warm and fuzzies after having had such a great time celebrating with family and friends.
The next morning I headed to one of my favorite local hotels for a gathering of Potawtomis in the region. I’ve blogged several times about our family’s Native American roots :http://wp.me/sSE1o-26 , https://amyguerich.com/2010/08/23/cleveland/ ,https://amyguerich.com/2010/08/23/nashok-maket/. Every year, the tribal leaders – chairman, vice chairman, and the legislators host informational meetings around the country to teach the tribal history, given an update on the current political and economic landscape of the tribe, and to get folks geared up for the annual festival that takes place on the reservation in Shawnee, Oklahoma during the last weekend of June every year. I met up with some of Grandma’s siblings – Aunt Maureen and Sister Ginger had ridden to town with Uncle Jerry and Aunt Hildegard and cousin Pat who lives here in town too, also joined us. We sat together and had a nice time visiting over a nice lunch of baked chicken and BBQ brisket. I always enjoy anytime spent with Grandma and her siblings, so this was a real treat. I am so fortunate that there is such longevity in the family. Grandma is the oldest at age 90, and the youngest, Uncle Jerry, just celebrated his 81st birthday last week. The only downside to the wonderful morning and nice lunch was that I had to eat and run.
My KC best girl friend and I were headed of to Manhattan to celebrate commencement with the class of 2013. One of my very best KC friends, fellow KSU financial planning grad, and industry buddy was giving the commencement address to the KSU College of Human Ecology graduates, which is where we had both received our financial planning degrees some years before. We had planned to attend the commencement ceremony and then planned a dinner get together with a group of friends afterward. Graduation was running about an hour behind schedule, which made me feel kind of bad because I could have spent more time with the family in KC, but oh well, how was I to know?
Graduation was awesome! It brought back so many memories to 7 years ago when I was walking across that same stage at Bramledge Coliseum. My friend’s speech was fantastic! I was totally blown away! He did a great job relating to the students and was so well spoken! I have heard him speak several times in various capacities and will say that in my opinion, this was his best delivery yet! It was so great sitting next to his mom and dad as they beamed with pride and mom even teared up a bit!
After the ceremony, my KC best friend and I paid a visit to her mother-in-law who lives in Manhattan and was busy helping set up for her friend’s daughter’s graduation party. I got to see some parts of campus that have changed quite a bit since I left Manhattan. After our visit, we headed to the restaurant where I had made dinner reservations for 8 of us. It was so much fun!! Some of my very favorite people – including my best friend from college – and the only one that I really still keep in touch with from school, and her husband joined us and we had a great time catching up. We also had the pleasure of the presence of our former department head who lead the our department when we were going through the financial planning program.
I got to cap off my weekend by lecturing at the adult confirmation Mass led by the Archbishop hosted at our Parish. It was great to be a part of such an important day for all of those being confirmed. And my reading happened to be one of my favorites!
I really really appreciated this weekend as my social time and family time have been very limited over the last several weeks. I was so grateful to spend time with so many people that I love and care about. It was a pleasure and hopefully some fuel to get me through some more stressful times to come. When I think things are tough, I need to remember that I really am very blessed and I should make it more of a point to consider that more often. I love and appreciate my extended family and true close friends.
Firsts
Although I was feeling a bit of a let down knowing that my birthday month was coming to an end, I was excited for my start to September.
My cousin, Ellen, lives in Kent, Ohio and has two children that attend school at Columbia University in New York City. She invited me to fly up to Ohio and hop in the car with her and her daughter so that we could take her daughter back to school for her senior year. I would then drive back with Ellen and get to spend some time with their family (gram’s brother, Bob, and his kids and grandkids) back in Ohio.
Long story short it didn’t work out for me to fly to Ohio, but I was able to fly into NYC and meet them in the city. I flew out of Kansas City at 9:20 am and flew to Charlotte where I had an hour layover….just enough time to grab a sandwich, a vodka soda, and catch a bit of the Penn State Ohio football game. I LOVE the new Penn State jerseys…but I digress. I caught my connecting flight to Newark, NJ.
The day before I left, I surfed around online and talked to my cousin about the best way to get to the city from Newark. We determined that it would be best to take the airport train to the New Jersey Transit System train to Penn Station and then catch the subway to Columbia where I would meet my cousins. I travel alone frequently, so I don’t normally get nervous, but I will admit that I was nervous and a little intimidated at the thought of making this trip, my first trip ever to New York City.
With the help of the airport attendant, I found the airport train to the NJ transit. While on the platform waiting on the NJ Transit train, this guy struck up a conversation with me. He was super nice, heading to the city on business from Houston. We chatted while waiting for the train and even sat near each other. I thought, wow, he is kind of cute, really nice, and super friendly. He even offered to help me with my bag, and that is when I noticed the wedding ring! Ha.
Anyway, I sat next to a New Yorker that helped me and Houston guy find our way around at Penn Station. From there, I bought a metro card and slowly but surely figured out how to catch the subway. Two hours from landing at Newark, I made it to the Columbia campus.
I was in awe of the beauty that was Columbia with its old buildings and well manicured campus. Seeing the hustle and bustle of the students moving in made me miss college. I was also a little intimidated by being in the presence of so many Ivy Leaguers. I know that there is no way that I could have hacked it at an Ivy League. I got to see my cousin Elan’s dorm and then we headed out for our first New York City adventure.
We took the subway to Times Square where my senses were overloaded with the mass marketing and commercialization. Every chain known to man was represented and I saw ads for every TV show to air this fall. Everyone there is out to make or spend a buck. The most interesting thing were all of the people that were in character to try and scam money from people by posing for pictures. Super Mario was there but he creeped me out because he was a middle eastern guy that kept taking off his head and walking around with a scowl on his face….way to scare the children!
We walked to Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and several other places in the area before heading to dinner at a local Mexican/Columbian restaurant.
I also got to attend Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The only thing besides the construction that bothered me was the fact that they let tourists mill around the cathedral during Mass. I thought that was distracting and disrespectful. After Mass, we had my favorite meal, brunch, at a little French cafe before heading off for Soho.
Soho was my favorite part of the city that I saw during my trip. I really wanted to go into Ivanka Trump’s store, but it was closed for remodeling. I also discovered Frye’s leather while in town and I’m still regretting not buying the purple sneakers in the Converse store.
As we were walking back to the Subway, we saw several people stopped out in front of this store taking pictures and there were lines everywhere inside. We thought that there may be someone famous, but we couldn’t figure it out. The name of the store was called Dash, so I pulled out my phone and googled “Dash, Soho, NYC” and a million hits popped up. Kim Kardashian owns the store. Enough said.
We walked down to the financial district and I snapped some pictures of Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. The entire time I walked around the city I kept saying, I can’t believe I’m in NYC! I don’t know why I’ve never been before.
We also went to Battery Park and caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty before we headed to dinner at a mom and pop greek restaurant near Columbia University.
We did a TON of walking on the trip, so all of the eating didn’t phase me. The only disappointment that I had was that we did not run into any famous people!
I had a lot of firsts on this trip and am already making a list of the things that I would like to do when I go back to the city, which I hope is very soon.
Reflections: Friends, Family, Coworkers
http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?BR=f21&Category=whatsnew_app_sweaters&ProductID=2086807112&VariantID=I had a jammed packed weekend, my first weekend of back to back engagements in quite some time since most of my time over the last year has been devoted to studying and learning my new position at work.
My weekend started early on Thursday with a social outing that took me to two places that I wouldn’t normally visit – Applebee’s, and a motorcycle gear shop (I do not ride and I know nothing about riding), followed by dinner at one of my favorite local spots, NoRTH. http://www.foxrc.com/north.html I washed down scallops that melted in my mouth with Punto Final Malbec from Bodega Renacer winery http://www.bodegarenacer.com.ar/eng/index.html . It was a fun and relaxing evening, even though I stayed out a bit later than usual. ,
Friday started bright and early with a 7:00 a coffee meeting. After I finished working for the day and a quick salon appointment with Tasha at En Vogue, http://tashancain.com/, I decided to brave the crazed streets and head to the mall. My company Christmas party was Saturday, and I still had nothing to wear. I had started my own tradition of wearing red to the event every year and was in search of a red dress. After two hours and trips to five stores, I found an outfit! http://www.express.com/strapless-rouched-tube-dress-41190-849/control/page/6/show/3/index.pro
To decompress from the traumatizing shopping experience, I met a friend at Mestizo www.mestizoleawood.com
for authentic Mexican food and refreshing margaritas.
It was another short night, as I had to meet a few people for a ride to Union Station for a tribute to a well known Kansas City meterologist. http://files.fox4kc.com/don/
After the service, we headed to breakfast at Room 39 http://rm39.com/ . It was a very busy place and the quiche was out of this world! After breakfast I ran errands and then had to rush to my nephew’s fifth birthday party at Zonkers. www.zonkers.com
I probably had more fun than the children playing basketball and ski ball. After a quick wardrobe change into my new red party dress, I headed for the Plaza for our company Christmas party.We had a blast with great food, drinks, company, and entertainment from KC Improv. http://www.improvkc.com/ The night just flew by! It was great to connect witht the the people that I work with in a stress free, relaxed environment. The quality time was especially needed now given the stresses that I have recently had due to my position.
I had yet another short night, as I got home late from the party and got a pot of chili to start. My alarm went off at 5:30 am and it was time to get up and pack for our trip to tailgate and watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Green Bay Packers. www.nfl.com I try to get to as many games as I can each year, but my schedule didn’t allow for any football games until today. I have a group of friends that I typically tailgate with and we have a blast!!! But, it is a long day.
Reflections: Friends, Family, Coworkers
I had a jammed packed weekend, my first weekend of back to back engagements in quite some time since most of my time over the last year has been devoted to studying and learning my new position at work.
My weekend started early on Thursday with a social outing that took me to two places that I wouldn’t normally visit – Applebee’s, and a motorcycle gear shop (I do not ride and I know nothing about riding), followed by dinner at one of my favorite local spots, NoRTH. http://www.foxrc.com/north.html I washed down scallops that melted in my mouth with Punto Final Malbec from Bodega Renacer winery. http://www.bodegarenacer.com.ar/eng/index.html It was a fun and relaxing evening, even though I stayed out a bit later than usual.
Friday started bright and early with a 7:00 am coffee meeting. After I finished working for the day and a quick salon appointment with Tasha at En Vogue, http://tashancain.com/, I decided to brave the crazed streets and head to the mall. My company Christmas party was Saturday, and I still had nothing to wear. I had started my own tradition of wearing red to the event every year and was in search of a red dress. After two hours and trips to five stores, I found an outfit! http://www.express.com/strapless-rouched-tube-dress-41190-849/control/page/6/show/3/index.pro
To decompress from the traumatizing shopping experience, I met a friend at Mestizo www.mestizoleawood.com
for authentic Mexican food and refreshing margaritas.
It was another short night, as I had to meet a few people for a ride to Union Station for a tribute to a well-known Kansas City meteorologist. http://files.fox4kc.com/don/
After the service, we headed to breakfast at Room 39 http://rm39.com/ . It was a very busy place and the Quiche was out of this world! After breakfast I ran errands and then had to rush to my nephew’s fifth birthday party at Zonkers. www.zonkers.com
I probably had more fun than the children playing basketball and ski ball. After a quick wardrobe change into my new red party dress, I headed for the Plaza for our company Christmas party. We had a blast with great food, drinks, company, and entertainment from KC Improv. http://www.improvkc.com/ The night just flew by! It was great to connect with the people who I work with in a stress free, relaxed environment. The quality time was especially needed now given the stresses that I have recently had due to my position.
I had yet another short night, as I got home late from the party and got a pot of chili to start. My alarm went off at 5:30 am and it was time to get up and pack for our trip to tailgate and watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Green Bay Packers. www.nfl.com I try to get to as many games as I can each year, but my schedule didn’t allow for any football games until today. I have a group of friends that I typically tailgate with and we have a blast!!! But, it is a long day, beginning with pre-tailgating with coffee and Baileys while waiting for the stadium gates to open, then grilling, socializing, eating, drinking, and going to the game. This game was especially fun, as it was a great football game to watch! http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-10709525
As is I reflect on this weekend’s events filled with time with family, friends, and my work family, I’m reminding myself to be thankful for the little things. Thankful for the life that I have and the experiences that I am able to enjoy.
Nashok Maket
This is the second part in a two part blog about my recent trip to Cleveland. https://amymariekc.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/cleveland/
I left for the airport at about 1:15 on Friday afternoon so that I could be there in plenty of time for my take off at 3:30. As soon as I pulled into the economy lot, the sky got dark and the rain started coming down in sheets. The wind was so fierce that it was blowing the rain all over the parking lot making the visibility almost zero. The shuttle kept driving past me because it couldn’t see me and I couldn’t see it with enough warning to get out and flag it down. After being passed by several times, I realized that I was going to have to brave the weather or risk missing my flight. I got out of my car and got my luggage from my trunk. The wind was blowing the rain so hard that I was soaked from head to toe by the time I finally flagged down the shuttle.
Lucky for me I didn’t have to check a bag and had already printed my boarding pass online so I was able to head straight for the gate. My flight was 20 minutes behind schedule because of the storms, so I was able to make a stop in the restroom and blow dry my hair. I still had to board the plane wearing wet clothes. I dozed off for a few minutes before we landed about 30 minutes behind schedule.
My cousin Janet, Uncle Bob’s oldest daughter, met me at the airport and we headed straight for Parma Tavern where the rest of our family awaited us. Uncle Bob was there with Sister Ginger, my Grandma, and Tom and Mary Ann. Mary Ann’s mother and Grandma’s mother were sisters. Tom and Mary Ann live in Maine and made the 800 mile trip to Cleveland because Grandma had asked Mary Ann to be her sponsor when receiving her name. Parma Tavern was a very interesting place to go with my 87 year old grandma, 84 year old uncle and 80 year old aunt. Everyone ordered fried fish and beer. I ordered water and a salad and a grilled wrap….I would.
The next morning, I found some trails close to where we stayed and went on a nice run in the cool weather. It was a nice way to prepare for the busy day a head.
The ceremony was to take place at 10:30 on Saturday morning, so we got to Uncle Bob’s house at about 9:00. The back yard was AWESOME. They had a tent set up for all of the food for the “feast” to take place after the ceremony. Several people made meat, salads, side dishes, and desserts. Another tent had about 6-8 tables set up with chairs. As I walked further through the yard, I made my way through the trees to the prayer circle that Rich and the girls had created for the ceremony site. Check out my pictures on facebook to get an idea of what I am talking about. I cannot do the beauty of the space justice in this blog post. About 40 people came to watch the 10 of us receive our Indian names.
Linda and Rocky showed up and got the ceremony started. Rocky started a fire in the prayer circle and explained the significance of the ceremony and all of the indian rituals that are a part of it and what they mean. After that and the creation story, the naming took place. Grandma received her name first. Linda named Grandma. I don’t remember the Potawatomi name, but the translation was “precious woman”.
Rocky called me up next, and gave a several minute talk, almost a roast of sorts, of me. What was funny was everything he said was right on the money even though we had only met for a brief moment a few times, so he doesn’t really know me personally. He said that he and Linda had a long discussion about what my name was to be and they settled on Nashok Maket. The simple translation is “helper”. He explained that I don’t just lend a hand, I actively seek out people to help and helping others is the core of who I am as a person. It was really moving. Then Uncle Bob and Grandma stood up as my sponsors and promised to help guide me through on my life’s journey with my new name, etc.
The other eight relatives, Ellen, Lakota, Elan, Maureen, Matthew, Erin, Max, and Maor all received their names after Grandma and I. It was emotional for me to see Lakota and Elan receive their names as the last time I saw them was two years ago at their father’s funeral. Jose died of cancer leaving Ellen to raise the two teenagers on her own. They are such beautiful and bright people. It was also so neat to see Max and Maor receive their names as young children.
I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be such an emotional experience. I wish that I would have understood the importance of the ceremony before making the trip as I wasn’t fully prepared. For instance, most gave gifts to their sponsors, which I didn’t do.
After the naming took place, we all gathered in the tent for the feast. Lets just say I went all out. The highlight of the meal was Erin’s cherry pie. She had never made pies before and made six cherry and apple pies! The fresh cherry pie was so delicious with the scoop of vanilla ice cream!
We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting and it was a blast! I don’t get to see the Ohio relatives very often, so this was a very special treat. We also don’t see Tom and Mary Ann often, so it was very special for me to get to know them better. It was also great getting to talk to Linda and Rocky one on one. Most of the time I meet them at an event where there just isn’t an opportunity for more than a hello and a handshake.
That evening we just all sat in Uncle Bob’s living room in awe of the experiences of the day.
Sunday morning, we all went to Mass at Uncle Bob and Janet’s parish, St. John Bosco. The liturgy was beautiful with lots of music and singing. The homily was so fitting to close out a weekend with family…it was all about love. After Mass and a nice visit with the pastor, Uncle Bob announced that he would like to take the seven of us out to brunch. Well, of course I got excited, we all know how much I love brunch! http://www.facebook.com/thebrunchclub
https://amymariekc.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/the-brunch-club/
We went to the 100th Bomb Group restaurant across the road from the Cleveland Airport. The theme was all about the 100th Bomb Group from World War II. They had old planes out front and a lot of World War II memorabilia inside. They also had huge picture windows where you could watch airport planes take off. The food selection on the brunch buffet was phenomenal. I tried several things and also enjoyed a glass of champagne. The best part of the whole experience was that we weren’t rushed at all. We had a leisurely meal and great conversation. I love not being in a hurry at a place like that because I can eat slowly and let my food digest which gives me an opportunity to try several things!
After our meal we went to the cemetery to see where Aunt Joyce was buried. The cemetery is in a beautiful area and the stone that they put up was beautiful. By the time we finished at the cemetery, it was time for me to pack up and get to the airport. We all went back to Uncle Bob’s where I said my good-byes to Uncle Bob, Janet, Sister Ginger, Grandma, and Tom and Mary Ann. Grandma and I got a little teary eyed. They were going to continue their visit to Monday, but I had to leave to get back to work.
The trip home was interesting. As I walked into the Cleveland airport after Janet dropped me off, my suitcase broke….this is not the first time this has happened to me on a trip. When I boarded the plane, my favorite purple purse broke. When I got on the shuttle to go back to the parking lot in Kansas City, I realized I didn’t have my keys. I lost them somewhere on the trip. Luckily I had an extra set in my car and the parking lot security was able to break in.
I made it back in one piece and am very grateful that I have all of these great memories from such a great weekend with my family in Cleveland.
The Potawatomis
This is the second entry in a series of entries that I started about my family leading up to my annual family reunion that I just came back from a few days ago. In my last entry https://amymariekc.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/family-matters/ , I mentioned my grandma’s brothers and sisters and their large families. In this entry, I am going to talk about how Grandma and her family came to be.
The Potawatomi Indians were forced off of their land in Indiana in 1838. They walked over 600 miles and made their way to Sugar Creek, near Osawatomie, KS. Several died along the trail. http://www.potawatomi-tda.org/
E qua ke sek was a small Indian child who lost her mother and father to illness along the trail. Rose Phillippine Duchesne was a French nun who moved from St. Louis to Sugar Creek to teach the Potawatomi Indians. Sister Rose taught E qua ke sek. E qua ke sek eventually moved with Sister Rose and the other sisters to St. Mary’s Mission, which is now St. Mary’s, KS. The Potawatomis eventually settled in Oklahoma. Their reservation is in Shawnee, OK.
James Slavin was an Irish immigrant who worked as a carriage driver for Bishop Mieage, the first Bishop of the territory of Kansas. When Bishop Mieage would visit the Cathedral in St. Mary’s, E qua ke sek would serve the Bishop and his staff. James and E qua ke sek fell in love and were married. E qua ke sek was baptized a Christian and given the name Theresa.
Jim and Theresa had several children, and three survived. James, John, and Mary. Mary, their only surviving daughter, settled near Belvue, KS and also married an Irishman, James Doyle. Mary and James had five children, Sister Mary Conception, Florence, Leo, Gene, and Genevieve. Florence married Thomas Pearl and they had six children, Marjorie (Marj), James (Jim), Robert (Bob), Maureen, Virginia (Ginger), and Gerald (Jerry). Grandma Doyle made a point to pass down her Indian heritage to her five children. Florence did the same with her six children. Grandma Marj has done the same with her kids and grandkids.
Every year the descendents of Jim and Theresa get together for a Slavin family reunion. In recent years, the reunion has happened in conjunction with the Annual Potawatomi Reunion festival in Shawnee, OK. http://www.potawatomi.org/ The Festival is three days of eating, drinking, games, and dancing. There is also an opportunity to tour and view the many facilities on the reservation: the grocery store, casino and entertainment complex, golf course, camp grounds, wellness center, and many more. My Grandma made a point to take us kids on the trip every year. We last traveled together to the Festival in 2006. Every year we have a blast experiencing the Potawatomi culture and catching up with relatives. In 2007, I was ill and was unable to make the trip, so Grandma traveled without me. In 2008, Grandma was ill and we stayed home to be with her. Last year, we realized that Grandma isn’t able to make the trip any longer. She is in her late 80s and just isn’t able to travel long distances, especially in the Oklahoma summer heat.
This year was the first year that I was able to get over my guilt of leaving Grandma behind to make the trip. I’m so glad that I did. I will post about this year’s trip in another entry.
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