Paddock Family Reunion

Paddock Family Reunion—June 18-24

No matter how far we travel, Colorado will always be home for us. There is a very good chance we will be buried in Kansas, but Colorado will always be home. We still have family there and it is not possible to undo 45 years of living there.

Arletta let it be known that it was time for a family reunion. Her concern was for grandchildren that are growing up and leaving home. She felt that this year might be the last year we could get everyone together in one spot. Grand Junction is the logical place. That is central to California where Becca is and to those of us who live in Oklahoma and Kansas. Vicki was able to get good prices on tickets from Alaska, so Grand Junction was a good spot for her as well. The Paddock children took on the responsibility of planning and organizing the entire event and did a great job.

Our activities began Thursday night with an evening visit at Tad's. Our newest great-granddaughter, Ollie, was there and we delight to see her and the other members of the family who had driven or flown in. My evening was spent trying to locate a lost hotel reservation. Holiday Inn had my confirmation number but no room or hotel to match the number. Bottom line—no place to stay. But a humble servant of Holiday Inn somewhere in Pakistan found us reservations in a brand new hotel in Grand Junction. He did ask if I were depressed or suicidal because they were looking for truck drivers. When we got there it had been open all of three days.

The big excitement began on Friday when we caravanned out to Highline Lake near Loma, Colorado. We used to joke about the Loma Mall which was basically a country store. We also joked about the Loma International airport. A favorite story of mine about the airport goes like this: They were testing a new jet plane larger than the 747. (In fact, the Russians went on to build this plane. You can see it online). They fired up the plane and it started down the runway with a huge cloud of black smoke billowing out of the engines. All of a sudden the engines died and the plane came to a stop at the end of the runway. The engineers for the Loma Institute of Technology ran down the runway to find out what happened. The pilot rolled down the window and his voice boomed out over the desert—"Ran out of coal."

When we lived in Colorado in the 1970s and 80s the Highline Lake was a large puddle in the midst of sagebrush with a sand fringe around the edge. We had a lot of fun at the lake, but it was no paradise. By 2009 some dramatic changes had occurred. Grass had been planted, trees grown up, restrooms, and outdoor tables and shelters all over the place. It even boasts a nice campground for overnights. At 10:00 am the campground was full. The day was cool and the water cold. Still the children enjoyed playing in the water while the older generation sat around, ate and talked over old times. We stayed until 5:00 pm at the Lake and then retired to Tad's for the evening.

Saturday morning found us again at Goodpastures for another great breakfast. We took the Mercedes with a Hemi to a great car wash that took 9 minutes to do the wash, but when it was done the car was spotless. We had picked up a good deal of road crud on the trip from Denver to Grand Junction. Eventually we were back to Tad's for more visiting and final preparations for the Family Picnic at the Long Family Memorial Park near Central High School. Several years ago William Long gave the county the acreage for a huge park next to Central High School. The park is ½ mile long and a quarter mile wide. But the catch to the gift was simple. The county had three years to develop the park or the land reverted to the family. The county got on the ball and built a beautiful park complete with walking paths, sports' facilities, and picnic shelters.

The guest list at the family picnic included all of our children, their spouses, and grandchildren, except for one spouse and two grandchildren. Of course we had our first great-granddaughter there. All of my sister's children (Susan died several years ago) were there. Some of the Linscotts live in the Grand Junction area and one daughter, Debbie, drove in from Oregon. We had a chance to catch up on the lives of these nieces and nephews. We also met some of the new additions to this part of the family. All were doing well. My only brother, Doug and his wife Tommye were there. Arletta's older sister, Chrissie, came with some of her children. One of Marty's old buddies, Scot Bell, came to visit. And then a great surprise, Chris Clark, came to the reception. We were glad to see him again. It was a cold day in Grand Junction even in June and we finally went home around 5:30.

Sunday was the highlight of the reunion for me. We went to church at the Clifton Christian Church. My spiritual roots are in that church. We saw a few old friends including Eleanor Burckhalter who invited me to church in 1957. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude. In church I had my entire family, including most of the grandchildren. It was a powerful moment.

Sunday afternoon Tad fired up the grill and did his usual great job of grilling steaks. We took family pictures and then the party began to break up. Marty and Alisha and their crew started for Kansas. Arletta and I left for Moab Utah to spend time with my brother.

I want to offer a special thanks to our children for putting together a wonderful time. It was the greatest gift they could have given.