This year we were at cousin Rosemary's house who lives on Lake Tapps in Washington...actually her address is Bonnie Lake, so I always thought it was Bonnie Lake that was the body of water at her back door! but it isn't, there really is a Bonnie Lake, but it is very small...
It was a smaller gathering than normal for our reunion picnic, but it was so nice to see everyone and to spend time talking to them one on one. Most do live in the Seattle area, we come from Oregon and actually it was just my older brother, Bernie, his wife and my dad and I that went up this summer. A cousin came from Idaho but the rest live in the area. And the picnic is catered by a cousin who has his own catering business...and you can guess what was served! Pasta...the best ever, with meatballs, and short ribs, raviolis, salad, bread...and then everyone contributes to dessert!
The best part of the day was seeing my Dad's two sisters...and they both came to the reunion. One is 94, my dad will be 92 in October and his younger sister will be 90 in October! I love them so much, they are just sweet sweet ladies!
I stayed with Linda for 5 days and one day we took her dad (93) out to breakfast and then on a drive down memory lane. We went to our old neighborhood (that is where Linda and I became fast friends at the age of 7!) she lived at the top of 33rd and Graham, I lived at the bottom of 33rd. We drove to Lake Washington where as young girls we would walk every day during the summer to swim in the lake...well, I swam, Linda didn't so much like the water, so she laid in the sun! I thought it was a looong way to walk, so we clocked it and was surprised to find out it was about 2.4 miles to our homes...seemed a lot further back then, but it was all hill!! Up and down both ways...
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| Lin and I at Seward Park on Lake Washington |
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| My Grandma and Grandpa Iacolucci's house (they came from Italy)...we lived there for a few years when I was about 5. |
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| The house I lived at until I was 16, my bedroom was the one close to the front door...now it has a fence all around the whole house. |
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| This is the side yard I played flag football with my brothers and in the back is a patio where my BFF (Linda) and I would roller skate for hours. My mother always had flowers in the center part, here it was just weeds. |
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Well, that is it for another Iacolucci Family Reunion Picnic. We have one every year, and maybe not everyone can come every year, but it is so important to keep in touch with family and to stay connected. That is the best part. I grew up with my cousins, and remember staying with them for long periods of time in the summer time and it is so nice to stay connected even if it is just once a year.
We all did go see my Mom's sister, Auntie Lorraine while we were up in that area...and she will be 91 in December. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera out of my purse and get a picture of all of us together. But she looks fabulous also, lives alone in her house and takes care of the yard and flowers and garden all herself...I hope I can do half of what she does when I am her age!
