Family Reunion

Mallard Side of the Lay Family

A few weekends ago, Michael and I traveled to southern Arkansas to attend the Lay Family Reunion. I was so excited about getting to see my extended family. The Lay family is my paternal grandmother's side of the family. The majority of the extended Lays live south of Little Rock. Most of my father's side lives south of Little Rock, and I don't believe Michael has ever traveled that far south. It was a whole new world. Cotton fields and two lane highways, in which my father reverted back to the years he drove a Camero and decided to drive 100mph on those two lane highways in his Tahoe.

I have a lot of good memories of driving to visit my family with my grandfather and my cousin. The last time I spent any amount of time down there I was 13 years old, and doing anything away from my parents at that age was fun. My great aunts and uncles all lives within about 20 miles of each other and we drove to visit each one and we did something special and fun at each one's house. To a 13 year old it was a great time; horseback riding and visiting cemetery. Yes, visiting cemeteries. Apparently we all need to know where our family is buried, according to my Great Uncle J.

It was great visiting with all of my extended family. The last time we had a family reunion I was 2 years old and pictures are the only memories I have of the day. I do know most of my extended family, mainly from attending our fair share of funerals throughout the years, so it was nice to get together for a happy occasion. It was wonderful to know everyone still looks the same. The reunion was held at my great grandmother's house (which has been remodeled) on the Lay family farm. Most surprising thing of the day was that I actually remembered how to get there, or at least a few random landmarks.

Hopefully it won't be 23 more years before we have another reunion.

My Dad and Great Uncle Alvie