The Kirkwood Sisters

One of the greatest benefits of  multi-generational living is getting to build closer relationships with my aunts and uncles.  Because we all live in the same house, when someone in the family visits or calls my parents............my family and I also have the opportunity to grow these relationships.  What a tremendous blessing it has been!

This past week, my sweet (ok and sometimes sour) Aunt Charlotte came to visit us from the great state of Texas.  We had such a great time!  As I scroll through the pictures on my phone, I'm so thankful for the memories we made in her 10 day visit.  

Clockwise from top left: Bonnie, Barbara, Charlotte & Roberta (my mom)
Aren't they adorable?

I love to hear the stories about life when they were growing up....from each of them.  They all have a little different perspective of things and how events impacted the family.  They are all exceptionally talented ladies, each with a little different spin on how they would do it.  Raising boys only, it was incredibly interesting to hear about life at their house growing up.  I feel like I had the opportunity to become much more educated in family history and it gave me a lot of insight on how and why I was raised the way I was.  Four sisters in one house, but each very, very different from the other.  As they have gotten older, it appears to me that their fondness for each other has only gotten deeper.  What a beautiful picture of family ties.  

We were able to head to the west side of our state to visit our dear Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jim.  We had such a lovely visit and although it was short, probably the most memorable time for me to enjoy almost all the Kirkwood girls (we missed you Aunt Barbara).  I was able to meet up with a cousin of mine that I hadn't seen in probably 20 years and hear her memories of time spent with my mom when she was a little girl.  Hearing these sweet stories and learning how even hard times can bring families together in a unique way.  The Lord has been good to our family!

3 out of 4 Kirwood sisters (left to right: Roberta, Bonnie and Charlotte) and although I did get their permission to put this on my blog (even though they all had something to say about why they didn't like it) I thought it captured the fun time we were having and the love they have for each other!

During my Aunt Charlotte's visit to Richland, stopping by the "Spudnut Shop" was a must!  It has been in Richland since 1948.  The Kirkwood girls told me that they used to walk down and enjoy a spudnut a la mode on occasion.  We thought we'd do that again:

"Spudnut a la mode"

There were so many interesting and telling things that I learned about my family on this visit.  So many questions that I was able to ask that I hadn't thought much about before....."what did my aunts think of my dad at first?", "what was my Grandma Kirkwood like from other perspectives?", "how difficult was it to lose her at such a young age?" So many stories.... sad and happy stories.  The things that I learned on this visit would not necessary interest those outside my family.  But it did make me wonder how many of us take the time to know our parents' siblings.  They hold a lot of history and I have been extremely blessed by pursuing those relationships.

A subdivision and street that my dad named after my mom's family.