Miller Reunion--Part 2

The first night when we were all getting ready for bed in our married ladies dorm at Oasis, the conversation ranged over some of the hilarious things some of us had learned about others in the extended Miller family during one of the games. In one part of the game everyone had to say something about their own bodies that was not generally known. (It was a ladies' group.) This conversation catalyst resulted in additional revelations within this closely related family group, accompanied with more hilarity. One of my sisters summed up the shared information with this: "Womanhood is full of indignities."

The next morning I thought of some of those indignities when I woke up around 5:00. I had to giggle in the middle of a little cough, and it came out sounding strangled and louder than necessary.

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Many of my siblings have been teachers at one time or another. In fact, only Lois (the nurse) and my two adopted brothers have never been classroom or residential Bible school teachers. At this reunion, in one conversation with Myron and Caleb, I felt like we were all on the same page when it came to grading papers, dealing with late papers, sniffing out plagiarism or other kinds of dishonesty, and teaching students how to write. Caleb is a philosophy professor and Myron used to teach at Sharon and Rosedale Bible School/Institute/College.

I learned in that conversation that some colleges not only immediately expel any student caught in cheating/lying/stealing, they also expel anyone who does not report any such conduct they are aware of. That's an interesting concept.

Myron told about having recently met someone who was a fellow student years ago at Hutch JUCO. This person told Myron that others in the class weren't very happy with him for pulling up the curve. (The teacher routinely assigned the top grade a 100% score.) This jogged Myron's memory of one time when he arrived in class on test day and found others standing around waiting to be seated. After he sat down, other students swarmed to the seats all around him. He realized what was happening and very deliberately concealed the answers on his paper. That probably didn't further endear him to the other students, but I think I would have done the same thing. Generosity doesn't seem to me to be the most relevant character issue here.

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My brother Ronald told about a community where there are a variety of churches, dubbed by some "wise guy" with A, B, C, and D designations. It's not clear to me what the actual affiliations are of these groups, but they may all be shades of Beachy. However, they've been dubbed Amish, Beachy, Conservative, and "doo vee duh vit (do as you please)" churches.

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Ronald says when they visited Brevard, NC he was not prepared for the rainforest ecosystem where my sister Dorcas lives. The trees were incredibly tall, with the first branches growing at the height of several houses stacked on top of each other. The deck at the back of Bill and Dorcas' house borders a 30-foot drop-off. Definitely not Kansas-like.

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Marcus and Anthony prepared a delectable snack for everyone one evening--featuring the best of their food memories from a childhood in El Salvador. Fresh pineapple, papaya, and mango, mixed with cantaloupe, and served with an optional dressing of lime juice, salt, and chili pepper "juice." Joel and Hilda had something similar on their honeymoon and brought us a prepared mixture similar to this. It was very good, and I could see how it could become "addictive. "

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I'm making a mental note for food preparation for the next DLM reunion: Cook half again as much food as you would for a normal crowd. In other words, if you have 50 people (which we did), count on 75 servings.

Eileen, my cousin who owns a restaurant, used the same numbers for preparing the food for the LDM crowd--300 servings for 200 people.

Perhaps the fact that we had only two meals a day made a difference too.

Our family and Caleb's prepared Monday's brunch. We served a delicious grits casserole--recipe from my sister Dorcas--with tomato gravy as an option, and lots of fresh fruit, with coffee cake and hot drinks. When half the casserole had disappeared before half the people were served, Hilda, with her Faith Builders cooking experience suggested cutting the second 18 x 24 pan of casserole into squares to make sure everyone got a piece. It almost worked. Hilda and I didn't get a piece and neither did Benji, who arrived on the scene too late. Even the hastily cooked grits and cheese disappeared, and I scrambled the four remaining eggs left from the two dozen that went into the casserole to serve Linda and Benji. So everyone got a bit of something hot. Cereal was an option as well for anyone who needed more food to fill up on. I don't know how we would have found oven space for another casserole, but we sure could have used it.

I was glad for Hilda's experience when I was trying to think of an easy coffee cake to serve. She found just the ticket among her FB recipes: Honey Bun Coffee Cake. It was made with buttermilk. We served it warm. So good. She and Joel made the cake while Shane helped me with the casserole. Grant and Hiromi were, ahem, not on the scene early, and Shane had purposely not awakened Dorcas because he knew she was very tired.

Kara and her helpers prepared several large fruit platters.

In our two families, the ones who didn't make it into the kitchen in time to help prepare the meal got to take care of the cleanup afterward.

Lowell and Judy and Bill and Dorcas served pancakes with sausage gravy and/or syrup and peanut butter. Juice and scrambled eggs were also offered.

For the afternoon meal, Marvin and Lois and Ronald and Brenda served barbecued chicken, new potatoes with a creamy cucumber salad topping, and sliced tomatoes, with ice cream sundaes for dessert. (I think I'm forgetting something.)

On the first evening Linda and Myron and Rhoda served sloppy joes, chips, and melons, with root beer floats or mocha ice cream for dessert.

Carol provided cereal for those who couldn't wait till brunch.

Hilda, who is not the most needy among us in this department, said she plans to go on a diet after this is all over. Joel expressed a similar impulse.

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Shane and Dorcas rolled in to their Abbyville house just before 5:00 on Friday. The reunion meal that evening was to be served at 6:00 (or was it 6:30?). They had moved here from Colorado that day in two vehicles--Shane driving a pickup pulling a trailer and Dorcas driving their car. They had a good crew to help unload, and they got to the reunion in time to join the food line. During most of the weekend they lived out of suitcases because there was almost no time to unpack, but at least they didn't have to shop for groceries or cook since they could eat about four days' worth of meals at the reunions.

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On Wednesday those of the DLM family who were still here and could make it had an impromptu lunch together at the Dutch Kitchen. Thanks to Andrea and Janice who served this mob very efficiently.

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On Wednesday Bill and his nephew cohorts made another early morning foray into bird watching territory, this time guided by information Joey had found on the internet. They went to Great Bend, to the cemetery, to look for Roadrunners, which were nesting on the cemetery grounds. When they got there, the caretaker refused to tell them where the nest was, but Joey's information helped them locate it anyway. However, the best help was a jogger who told them where he had seen the birds. With that guidance, they saw two of them, probably the male and female of the nesting pair. They were both away from the nest.

On the way home from Great Bend they stopped again at Quivira where they saw a Black Rail and a different species of Tern--all new additions to their life lists.

The trip was off to a soggy start again when Bill's young guides suggested High Point Road as the best way to get from Myron's to Lowell's house. That's certainly the shortest route, but it works best when the road is dry. The last two miles are almost entirely uninhabited, and not very well graveled. As it was, Bill cautiously crept through the first spot where the water covered the roadway, but the next such spot looked more formidable. However, backing up all the way to the intersection behind them, through the first "lake," didn't seem like a good option either. So they forged ahead, and got through alright.

Somewhere along the line Bill's only pair of shoes got thoroughly soaked, so he bought some cheap sandals to tide him over till they dried out.

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Carol brought some houseplants she had started, and others of us went home with Clivia, Rubber Plant, and Shefflera (sp?). That inspired me to divvy up the African Violets I've been nurturing from leaf petioles, and quite a few of those went home with one of my siblings or in-laws or nieces. Earlier I had potted up a white one to send home with Aunt Mary who had given me a pink one when we stayed at their house in Iowa over the time Henry Zook's funeral.

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Haven, which is near Yoder where our LDM reunion was, had about 8 inches of rain over the past weekend though Tuesday. Inman had a similar amount. I've lost track of the exact amount we had. I remember 4 1/2 inches and I think later rains pushed it over 5. Less was clearly better in this case. Third cutting hay should be a whopper of a crop, and all the row crops are looking happy.

I'm sorry about Sheila's garden though. She lives near Inman, and already she had lost much of her early garden because of too much rain, and the resulting high water table rotting the plants underground. This might finish off the ones that survived the first hazards. I hear that Don and Donna have had similar problems. Living in a high and dry place looks good right now. I know how hard these people have worked to raise produce, and it doesn't seem fair that the payoff is so elusive.

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My nephew Josh wants to go to law school next year. His dad was my student many years ago, and if Josh is like his dad, I know he'll be a good lawyer. I don't envy him though. I think such a profession is probably about equal parts boring details and stressful, in-the-hot-seat thinking, arguing, and bargaining. I can live without the details and the stress.

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Our family met my niece Andrea's boyfriend for the first time this weekend. I suspect Brandon found us all a bit much, but he acted fairly stoic and seemed nice.

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One of the last DLM group games involved lots of aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. It was the tricky one where everyone wrote something they wanted someone else to do. Then we passed it two places to the right, then two places to the left, so we each got to do what we had plotted for someone else to do. I had vague recollections of having been involved in such a game before, so I prudently asked for someone to stick a pencil in their outer ear. That was pretty simple. Jumping jacks and singing "Jesus Loves Me" were performed several times, and Bryant got to stand on his head and Andrew got a hug, and someone got a spanking and Dorcas and three others sang "Star-Spangled Banner" in opera style--quite convincingly. Grant orchestrated this game-playing.

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On Monday we had a memory-sharing time that lasted for several hours. It was quite informal, and much of it was unpremeditated. I learned a few things I didn't know before, and I think the nieces and nephews and newest in-laws learned a lot they didn't know.

I think Hans video-taped it, so maybe even Zachary can get in on this good family time.

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At the LDM reunion, Dad and each of his siblings shared something, or someone shared in their place. Eldon read what his Mom wanted to say, and a favorite verse of Harry's was quoted, and Omar announced a song Edwin wanted sung. Most of the rest shared a scripture or some good memory or admonition.

In the same Sunday morning service, Delmar's wife, Suzanne, had a memorable children's lesson on having a good name. She recalled that her mother told her every morning: "Be careful, I love you, and Remember, you're a McKenzie." She pointed out that all of us in that gathering had "Miller" as one of our family names, and that was a good name too. But the best family name of all is the one we have when we are in the family of God.

Ronald spoke on transition, using the image of the transformation from caterpillar to cocoon as a parallel to our earthly journey--limited as it must be for a time, but ending eventually in freedom to soar with a beautiful new body--when we reach heaven.

We sang and liked hearing how it sounded.

Unfortunately one toddler threw up during the service, and his mother took him home. Those close by were inconvenienced, I'm sure, but I didn't find out what happened till later. I know how it feels to be the mother of the child who upchucks in church. My sympathies to Mollie.

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Mahlon's family planned this LDM reunion. Our family is to plan the next one in two years. I don't relish the thought of all those decisions--especially trying to decide whether to spend more money and get the food catered or fixing more of it ourselves and making it cheaper. Or having it at an exotic place where the younger family members can satisfy their yen for adventure, or a roomy air-conditioned church kind of place where the older people have easy access and feel comfortable.

This one cost $25.00 for everyone over the age of 5. I know this was a great value, but I also know that it was hard for us to find that money earlier when we had five to pay for. And some of the people there had travel expenses to cover as well.

Trying to balance everything looks daunting. Here's hoping it doesn't look that way to everyone else in my extended family.

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Wes was sick on Saturday and Sunday and could not be there. We missed him. At the reunion we also learned about other health issues in the family. Hilda and Loretta are both having a rough time of it right now, but they were present.

Susie, Judy, and my mother all missed parts of the reunion, when I think their Miller husband would have been able to stay and enjoy the gathering.

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Lots of families took pictures after church on Sunday. Rhoda was missing on our family picture, along with Zachary, but we were still easily the biggest mob of all.

Since Brandon was on some of our pictures, but not on others, someone suggested a photoshop maneuver that would put Rhoda's head on Brandon's shoulders. Besides the fact that it would certainly look very odd, Brandon happened to be positioned very far from the rest of Myron's family in the lineup, so I don't think that would work too well. Now Zachary--there's an idea . . .

Benji will post the pictures on a website for others to download and print as they wish.