Family

Most of you know that we do not have blood family in Nebraska. We have a lot of friends we consider family, but there are only Rich, Lily, and me here in Nebraska. When Lily graduated on May 21st, we had a lot of family come to help celebrate. Her brother, Tim, flew in from East Palo Alto, CA. Her Aunt Tammie and Nana and Nano flew in from New Port Richey, FL. Her Grandma, Uncle Craig, Aunt Mayra, and cousins, Alex and Emily Jo came from Houston, TX. Her Aunt Pam, Uncle Brian, and cousins, Kara, Alyssa, and Micah drove from Goshen, IN. Her sister-in-law, Michelle, drove up from Kansas City. We were really blessed and humbled to have them all join us to celebrate Lily’s accomplishments. We had all of my side of the family together, minus my dad, who is in memory care and unable to travel. He was missed. We had all the cousins together though and took photos with together and with their grandma. Rich’s mother also has Alzheimer’s, so it was an interesting weekend reminding her who was who and why we were doing certain things. It was special to see Michelle meet the newest cousin, Emily Jo….named after her husband, Joe. Craig was Joe’s Godfather. Now Rich and I have been asked to be her Godparents when she is baptized. Joe was missed, and my dad was missed, but we really had a wonderful time celebrating Lily and it was nice to see her enjoying herself for the day! I have a few shots from her actual graduation at the Baxter Arena. When I asked Lily why she was paired with one of the tallest people in her class, she said she hadn’t even noticed! She comes up to his elbow! Thank you again for all the family and friends who came to wish Lily well. I know she deeply appreciated it and so did we.