Poindexter 2008

I really wasn't kidding in that Twitter update... I was at the Poindexter Family Reunion in Tishomingo, Oklahoma all day today. Don't you think that having that name in my lineage explains a few things about me?

See the little silver-haired lady? That's my grandmother, whose maiden name was Poindexter. This reunion was for all the families of her siblings: Billy Ray, Martha (her), Turner, Monroe, Jimmy Doyle and Colby. Half of them have already passed on, but the other three turned up for the shindig -- as did a fair number of their progeny and their progeny's progeny. My grandmother's family is way way way waaaaaay bigger than this little bunch in the photo, but not everyone could be here this year for one reason or another.

My daddy is standing on the far left. I look exactly like him. He is my hero. He goes in for stem cell harvesting and transplant next month, at which time he'll have to be in complete isolation for a few weeks until his bone marrow grows back. It's all part of the treatment for multiple myeloma.

Next to him is my wee Alice, and then JoeMama. I don't look much like her, but I have almost the same voice that she does. She is ALSO my hero. In another month, she will celebrate her fourth year of living with a heart transplant.

If you'll notice, Alice is carrying a little bag. One of my mom's cousins, Wayne, who lives in Reno, Nevada, brought her a bunch of gifts. He had met her at the last Poindexter shindig three years ago and thought she was the sweetest little thing ever. Isn't that just the coolest? I was really touched by that.

The project I had been working on for my grandmother was a scrapbook with pictures of everyone in her branch of the family (since they couldn't all be there in person). It was fun to get photos e-mailed to me from every corner of the known universe, and I think the book turned out quite nicely.

We made plans to meet up again in two more years in Reno, Nevada -- hosted by Billy Ray's branch of the family. I canNOT wait; I have always wanted to visit Reno and Tahoe, and a family reunion is the perfect excuse.

All in all, it was a very pleasant day.

Except I do have some advice to those planning the next one -- don't give microphones to men in their seventies or eighties.

Just kidding.

Sort of.