Reflections on Family

I have been reflecting on family.  My father-in-law passed away recently, so we made an unexpected trip to the US in August.  We saw a lot of family that we had not seen in a long time because of the pandemic; others we hadn’t seen in decades, primarily because we moved away from the area where my husband and I first met 30 years ago, in 1992.  While in the area we also visited my family and saw an uncle we had not seen for decades.

I was the oldest child of four, growing up in my parents’ home from the mid-60s through the early 80s.  I lived the first year of my life in St. Paul, Minnesota, although I don’t remember it.  The first home I remember was in South St. Paul, where we moved when I was a year old, where we lived when my two siblings closest to me in age were born, and where I went to kindergarten.  We moved to another suburb of St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, when I was six and I lived there until I went to college. I returned to my parents’ home the following two summers.

Like most families we had our fights and “issues,” but those of us who are still alive are close and enjoy seeing each other when we can.  My father passed away at the age of 58 more than 20 years ago.

I met my husband Kevin when we were both students at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota.  My roommate worked with him at a grocery store.  We dated for about 1 ½ years before deciding to get married and we married after 3 years together.  This post:  https://catherinedezelarkrause.com/?p=53 covers some defining moments of our early dating years and marriage.  We are now happily retired and living in Mexico and continue to enjoy each other’s company.

I met Kevin’s parents within a few weeks of starting to date Kevin, and his sister and her family shortly after that.  Kevin’s nephews, then 5 and 7, now are grown men in their 40s with families of their own.  We see some of them more than others primarily due to the logistics of where we all live.

I consider my husband to be my primary family member.  We have been together since 1986; I was 20 years old when we started dating.  I didn’t know who I was myself then, so I consider myself to be very lucky that I still liked him once I figured out who I was!  So, even when we move to a new place or travel extensively, sometimes for months at a time, I always have my core family with me.

The following are some pictures of my family, the one I was born into and the one I chose through marriage, over the years.

1960s

I was part of a growing young family.

1970s

Another sister joins the family, entire family growing up

1980s

The family continues to grow up, Kevin (and his family) enter my life

1990s

We moved to the Seattle area, others join the family through marriage

2000s

Kevin and I leave the Seattle area by sailboat and then move to Carson City, Nevada when we run out of money and need to return to work. Some new family members join the fun.

2010s

Many visits with family, some new members join, retirement in 2018, moved to Mazatlán

2020s

Visitors in Mazatlán pre-pandemic, restarting visits after the pandemic in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Pictured above around table from front, Jeff, Josh, Jennie, Kevin's Mom, Kevin's Dad, Tammy, Kevin, me, Jesse, Jesse's and Jennie's dog Frannie, Jennie's family's lake property in Northern Wisconsin, July 2021.  This was the last time Kevin's family was all together with his Dad.  Photo Linsey Paulus (Josh's wife), not pictured.