The 4th of July

We journeyed over to New Roads and False River for the 4th of July weekend. There was strong motivation to go, son Jake and lovely wife Anne were coming along with Anne's parents. That was an occasion not to be missed especially since Anne is expecting their first child.

Son James and his brood left early on Thursday for New Roads. They elected to stay at the camp. We, on the other hand, had reservations at Morel's along with Tom and Hildy (Anne's parents) and Jake and Anne too. We got our reservations early to ensure we had a place to stay. We drove out on the 4th itself.

Even Katie came with her boyfriend, Billy, came. He had a four year old boy with him - Mathew.

We had already known we were going to come over for the holiday so had invested with Paul as our advisor in fire works for the night of the 4th. Paul did us well with his purchases of fire works. All of False Rive was awash in fire works. Since some of the kids had gone to Baton Rouge to see the fire works on the Mississippi River, we saved our fire works for when they got back. We sat on the pier and watched and the show, a show that stretched from New Roads on the North end of the lake to around the bend and on to the south end of the lake. It was quite a show. It may not have been professional as the show in Baton Rouge, but it was just as spectacular and much more far ranging. The shots were random and it stretched out for miles along both the north and south sides of the huge oxbow lake.

We only began shooting the fire works at 10 PM and our little extravaganza lasted until midnight. We had shells and sprays, and yes, debris raining down on us. And true to form, a few folks on the other side of the lake responded. So the show continued until early hours of the 5th of July.

Saturday, we gather again at the camp along with Joan Tregre and her family (Dale - Ian - Catherine - Jonathan). They had stopped off at Dale's father's place in Destraham, LA. And they along with Dale's dad had gone crabbing. So we feasted on dozens of fresh boiled to perfection crabs.

As the day progressed along came Jeramie Major along with his boy, Jeramie and his wife Anna. Jeramie is the son of Janice who died many years ago. She was the older sister of Mark, Joan, Karen and Paul Gremillion. The two boys, Josuha and Jeramie Major seemed all but lost to the family, but the connection is now reestablished. It was not so much a grand reunion as it was a reunion, a welcoming of sorts. Mark and young Jeramie played a great deal. Joan did the same, giveing a lot of attention to young Jeramie. One could tell they, Mark and Joan, were exceedingly pleased to see that young family at the camp.

We had all tell 25 folks at the camp. Cousins, and kin of all kinds. The show on the lake was unbelievable. The gathering of the family has not to be matched before. Elsie and Bill Gremillion looked down on their heritage and smiled.

Sunday, we gathered once more to collect our stuff and say sad good byes - until next year. Jake and Anne off to Manhattan, NY, Tom and Hildy off to Madison, WI and Chip and Judie back to Texas. James and family to follow the next day to Flower-Mound, Texas. Joan and Dale with family back to Pearland, Texas. This will leave Mark and Paul to clean up after us all.

What a grand weekend!