This is the image of the first merging of families after our mother died.

I remember when my son, Alex, was little and began to lose his baby teeth, he believed firmly in the tooth fairy. But, his impression was that the tooth fairy collected all the teeth and built tractors out of them. I loved that about him.

I remember running that half-marathon and eating peanut M & Ms afterward from huge bowls put out by the race officials for the runners. I remember swimming on Smokey

Alex with his ready smile.

in that high mountain lake. I remember movie dates with Alex and we’d get pizza and have popcorn and soda at home. I remember making “millennium” brownies to celebrate New Year’s 2000 while Jared was attending the Presbyterian Youth Event. I remember Jared’s Creepy Crawler business!

I remember Godfather’s Pizza on Friday nights with Mary McWhorter and listening to Beatles’ albums at her house. I remember the candy aisle at Rexall Drug Store and Bazooka Bubblegum. I remember playing in the forest behind our house on 105th and wandering around the crick. I remember Girl Scout meetings in the tin building and Camp Washati with campfires, hobo dinners, and making sit-ups.

Jared on his first sandhill cranes-watching trip.

I remember getting lost in Little House on the Prairie, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and Pippi Longstockings. I remember trips in the suburban to Ponca State Park with all of us sacked out in the back and “sharing” boxes of Chicken-in-a-Biscuit and Socialbles- but I don’t think anyone liked the Socialbles. I remember Girl Scout cookie time: thin mints, peanut butter and the chocolate & vanilla sandwich cookies-they don’t have these anymore.

I remember Goodrich Dairy chocolate malts and banana splits, and I remember that we

The home stretch of a half-marathon…M&Ms, here I come.

didn’t have much, really, but we had joy with what we did have. We fought like cats and dogs, but we also stood for each other with a fierce love. It’s true that I remember many horrible things and maybe even wish I could forget them, but all of who I am is a testament to the underlying love and strength of family in all its forms.