4th of July 2015 Getaway: Part II

During our short 4th of July getaway this year, I got to reminisce about several things.  One important one was cherishing the memory of my grandparents by visiting their gravesite.  My grandmother had passed several years ago, but my grandfather just passed two years ago.  In fact, two years ago on this very date.  This was the first time since his funeral that I had visited the cemetery and was able to see his headstone and the lovely stone that he got for being a veteran of World War II.  I admit I teared up a bit while I visited him, given that I miss him a lot and wish he could have been able to meet Emma and see my children grow up more.  Evan and Emma were both with me when I visited the cemetery though, so I guess I can think that they visited him too, in spirit at least.

A really cool thing that I got to reminisce about was the family trunk that my ancestors used when they came to America from Germany in the mid 1800's.  I'd seen it before as a kid, but hadn't since.  My aunt had it restored recently and now has it in her home.  It was so neat to see it again and read the writing on it. I remembered seeing it as a kid thinking how they'd changed the spelling of our last name after we arrived.  However, that was before I learned how the double S letter is written in German. :)  

My aunt also had another family keepsake set out that Evan quite enjoyed.  It was a little kid's wooden rocking chair.  It was the perfect size for him.  My aunt told me it was probably over 100 years old, given it was my great grandmother's when she was a child.  What a quality piece of furniture to last that long (especially when used by kids!).