No family researcher ever believes he has the whole story of his family. To label this the first generation and pretend the story begins (or ends) here is a fallacy. There is another generation in the story, the grandchildren.

To say that Marge and I are proud of our three children is an understatement. But parents are surpost to be proud. Are they proud of us? I think so.

Jessica Ruby, our eldest, had me wrapped around her little finger from the moment I first saw her. I won't go into a bunch of tales about how cute she was growing up. I will say that it was the most fascinating experience to watch her come of age. She was always little Miss Justice, objecting to the littlest slight or injustice. Perhaps that why she took to religion so strongly. We raised her in the Presbyterian Church and she really applied herself to her studies. As a teenager, Jessica joined the International Order of Rainbow for Girls, a Masonic-sponsored organization and found its teachings of Christian morality to her liking. She rose in the Order to become Grand Representative to Iowa, a high honor from her peers. If you are familiar with Rainbows, I need say no more. If you are not, I can not explain it adequately.

When she started dating, it was to the man she would eventually marry. The first time I met him, I jokingly commented that I had a shotgun hanging over the front door on a plaque that read, "Curfew Enforcer." It was a year before he showed up when I was home! But I could never ask for a finer son-in-law. Especially as he and Jessie have given me three grandchildren!

Eric, our eldest son and second born, has also been a source of pride. Of course I was the strutting pidgeon when he was born but little did I know. One day, Eric said he wanted to join Scouting. As a long member and supporter of the Boy Scouts (I made it to Life Scout), I said yes. Eric was inducted and, two days later, left on a fifty mile hike! Yipes! I remember my first (and only) fifty-miler; seven days of struggling over the Sierra Nevadas from Buck's Lake to Mt. Lassen Scout Camp. My baby! Late the next day, he called to be picked up; the troop had done their fifty miles in one day! Hiking along a roadway, for crying out loud. Still, he had finished and was raring to go on the next one! He went on to become an Eagle Scout and a lifetime member of Scouting.

Eric's first wife died suddenly of a hidden virus defect at age 22, leaving him with a son. Remarried, Eric has a second son and two step-daughters that are darling! That brings the grandchild count to seven!

Wade, our youngest, is so much like my father that I swear it is reincarnation. Strong, charming, open-hearted, willing to help, Wade is quite the man. He wasn't interested in doing what his siblings did; join a youth organization for example. He made quite a name for himself in school in sports video-taping and performing in plays. Today he is a journeyman machinist making parts of devices to protect buildings from earthquake damage.

While concidered quite a catch (if only by us parents!), Wade has been married and divorced twice. The first marriage had no issue but his second gave him a wonderful daughter whom he has joint equal custody of, and three more step-chidren who we consider our grandchildren too. That brings the count to eleven!

What the future holds for our three first generationals is unknown. How much of their history they want to share is their choice so I will close here with my most heart-felt prayers for their health, wealth and safety in life.