A Family Reunion

​This past weekend, Georgia and I were on the road again. This time to Apple Valley, Minnesota where a Clough family reunion was held at the Apple Valley Community Center.

I come from a large family and I don't see most of my cousins very often - if at all. My grandparents, John and Lydia (Corey) Clough, had nine children born over a period of twenty one years. The births of their grandchildren spanned four decades - from 1927 to 1966. Some of my cousins were grown and married before I was born and some are much younger than I am. Also, the families were spread across the country. For those reasons, there are many ​cousins that I was never close to. It was nice to see so many of them at this reunion and to get a chance to know them better.

​One of those older cousins was Robert Clough. I only met him once or twice when I was growing up. In the last few years though, we ​were in close contact since we ​both had an interest in genealogy. We talked on the phone regularly and often exchanged letters with family information.

In February of this year Bob proposed a Clough family reunion and suggested a few possible dates. From the response he got, it was set for Aug. 18th. Sadly though, Bob passed away on April 2cd. It was something of a shock to all of us but some of my other cousins took on the task of making sure the family reunion happened anyway.

During the reunion, we held a memorial service for Bob​. His son passed out family history books that Bob had put together ​for ​the families of each of John and Lydia's children.

​On a happier note, we also celebrated the 98th birthday of Aunt Elaine (Clough) Swaney. She is the only surviving child of John and Lydia. It was good to see her in excellent health and with her memory as sharp as ever.

This picture is of her and my mother at the reunion.