Day 6

Thank you Paul for a great prompt for today's UBC, and because my blog is called Little-Bits-Of-Random, and my A.D.D. brain fires on random cylinders here is my oh, so random take.

The Reno connection...

I am a sucker for a good story, I collect them. My personal library is full of them, people share theirs with me, I listen in crowds, I read obituaries, and I write random bits. Through the years I have learned that it is stories that connect us. It is stories that connect us, that make us realize we are more the same than different. When we take the time to hear another person's story our lives can be changed.

One thing I know for sure is that history rarely disappoints, add moving trains, robbery and Reno and I am engaged. It also sounds like puzzle pieces of my family history.

My paternal great great grandfather that hopped a train train in Quebec and headed west, leaving his wife and family in Quebec (He did later send for them all) This same adventurous family member is said to have been an expert axe marksman – something that has always intrigued me.

A distant uncle on my mom's side delivered mail with the pony express along the Oregon trail. I can only imagine the adventurous life that would have been.

And then there is my Uncle Bob, from Golf Pro in the Bahamas to dealing blackjack in Reno. My uncle (is the short guy), with Jackie Robinson & Sidney Poitier/  He was the cool uncle. 

I am not going to lie, Uncle Bob was my favourite,it was always exciting when he came home for a visit. You always knew when Bob was at Grandma's, because he could be heard before walking in the door. His loud voice & laughter filled the air. To say he was charismatic was an understatement. His first words were always, 'how about a little sugar' code for come and give me a hug.

He was a story teller, crazy and wild were his specialty. True? False? Who really knew - but we were thoroughly entertained. Tales of the characters who sat at his blackjack table, famous people he had met we were captivated. Then there were questions about mob connections, like the real MOB, which he would never answer one way or the other, but there was always a twinkle in his eye. Our imaginations ran wild after he left and the stories would take on lives of their own much like he told them.

We used to joke that he moved back to Canada because he was running from the mob. True? False? Who knows... these are the stories that take on lives of their own and provide entertainment and questions for generations to come. I will forever be thankful for these stories, the true, the false the unanswered,the ones that hang in the air and keep us talking. These are the stories that draw families together.

What are the stories that live on in your family? Have they taken on lives of their own and evolved?

This day in history

P.S.  On this day in history, circa 1988. I was losing sleep and running through the mental check list of what felt like a million little things that had to fall into place the next day. Bridesmaids, photos, food, seating plans, flowers.... thinking that if it had not been done by now it was too late. I would be walking down the isle the next day. Tonight I had to ask how many years it had been..... 37 and I would choose the same guy, but I think I'd choose to elope.