North Carolina

August 7th through August 12th, we took a trip with Mom back to North Carolina for a family reunion. NC is a beautiful place....green, green, green (we were lucky enough to miss the humidity). David described the trip as "a step back in time." It is amazing how different life seems there.

We stayed in Hendersonville (not too far from the tiny little towns the family members are from). Hendersonville was a stunning example of NC charm. Beautiful and old, the buildings are well maintained and old advertisments are still displayed. Can anyone say "timewarp."

The family reunion was a faciniating event. We ate some "Old Fashioned North Carloina BBQ" (trust me....you gotta be from NC for that one) and spent a whole lot of time trying to figure out how everyone was related. This picture was kind of the axis, so to speak, even though it is not the Stacey family. This photo is of my Great Great Grandparents (mother's father's mother's parents...lol). Their daughter married my great grandfather and had 11 children (the youngest of which is my grandfather). The offspring of many of those 11 siblings were there, but there were also offspring from these 2 people's other chilcren. There was the son of their son present and the daughter of another of their daughters (believe me...it is hard to keep this all straight). Anyhow, I have realized I am going to have to paint an entire wall in our house like a family tree to even begin to grasp the magnitude.

It was a heartwarming moment to visit my grandfather's grave, buried there in his home town in the company of his beloved mother and father. I did not know, until I was there, how special and important it was to have taken him "home." Honestly not until I truly knew what "home" meant. I am happy he is there.


David and I did manage to find a Hooka Bar (of all things) in that vintage little town. It was completely empty, but we managed to have a good time none the less.


But...........the highlight of the trip for me was visiting the Gilboa Cemetery outside of Morganton about one hour from Hendersonville. This cemetery and church are quite old and extraordinarily the graves of my Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents are there. My 5G Grandpa was a revolutionary war soldier and is buried alongside his wife in this "out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere" place. I still do not have words to desribe how breathtaking it was to witness this in person. He was buried in 1834...born in 1760. I am awestruck.



What an amazing trip!!!!!!!!!!!