I had the opportunity to attend and celebrate the life of my Aunt Alpha in El Paso, TX on what would have been her 89th birthday this weekend. She was a wonderful woman and a great matriarch of the Wagner family during her almost 89 years on this Earth.
If you have to say something nice about a Memorial Service for a family member it is that it can motivate a family to get together. In the case of my side of the Brand family, we see our cousins, aunts, and even sometimes our immeadiate family on fairly rare occasions. Alpha’s passing brought about 50 of us together from the US, Europe and Asia, all to El Paso for the weekend. That’s my Dad Stan Brand, the youngest of the Brand siblings, sitting next to his sister Bernice Rogge, surrounded by children, grand children and great grand children of Aunt Alpha’s and previously deceased Uncle Hilmer Wagner’s clan. Dad and Bernice, now that Alpha is gone, are the last children of Elsie and Alfred Brand.
Alpha’s oldest, cousin Lisa, reconnects with Dad and Aunt Bernice. There were lots of smiles and laughs shared among all of us. My sisters and I never got to see our Wagner cousins very often, even before we moved away to Massachusetts from our home in Texas City when I was 11 years old because it was an 800 mile drive. But we always felt a strong connection with them and it’s always good to see them, even all these years later.
That’s my sister Staci and her husband Brian on the left, Bernice’s youngest child, Cousin Donna, in the middle, and my sister Stana on the right. Donna is a somewhat younger cousin but she’s always fit right in with us “oldsters”.
Sunday morning we met for breakfast and got a last picture of “the cousins”: (L-R) Sheila, Lisa, Donna, Russ, Staci, me and Stana. Missing from the photo was Andi who had to fly to Dallas to be with her recovering husband Rick, and Stanley who wasn’t able to make the trip this weekend.
After a wonderful BBQ and pool party at Andi and Rick’s house Saturday night the Brands and Rogge’s spent the best part of Sunday decompressing and hydrating around our rented houses’s pool in the 100 degree afternoon. That’s Donna’s youngest Elise luxuriating by Stana, Staci in the tube, and Donna on the right.
Brian and Bernice chilling in the shade of the patio.
And Dad, perched in his “smoking” chair downwind on the patio. He’s 84 years old, has smoked cigarettes since college and he eats like there’s never been a tomorrow, and takes virtually no medications: a modern day medical miracle and counterpoint of what a healthy lifestyle for longevity should be. Amazing.
Of course we had to punctuate the end of a great family get-together with ice cream before saying goodnight. It was a really great family reunion and celebration of Aunt Alpha’s life, the kind that I think would have made Alpha very, very happy.
Monday we all flew out of ELP about the same time. We had plenty of time before our boarding so Dad got his obligatory coffee and cream that he drinks all day long and I got a Margarita that I try not to drink all day long!! So long till the next get together!!
