Last Monday I picked up a box of fuzzy, delicious Utah peaches. Just like I did every summer of my childhood. We\’ve been eating them all day every day since then. This summer marks 10 years of blogging for me and as I read back through the posts I realized that this is not the first time I\’ve been inspired by peaches to write about them and what they represent.
Last Friday we gathered together as a Gubler family to the Santa Clara Cemetery to bury my Aunt. Each gathering at the Santa Clara Cemetery is bittersweet, bitter because of what usually brings us there and sweet because we’re all there together. That cemetery holds much of my Mom’s side of the family-an entire section of pioneer graves with great great great grandmas, great great grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin’s babes and now even friends. I spent the early part of Stella’s labor at that cemetery as part of a family reunion activity, and I vividly remember pacing in the heat, chasing young Paisley. I never thought I would love the idea of a family cemetery but it’s so very special to have the dead and the living from our family all in one place when we gather there.
My cousin reflected on our time spent together as a Gubler family in his mother’s eulogy. We spent labor day weekend together every year running from house to house, staying up way too late and eating fried chicken together. We always loaded up the kids in all the big cars and drove down to the Santa Clara River to see the Kelly Ghost after my uncle would recall the tall tale about Kelly haunting the river after his gas station burned down. We would ride bikes down to the Merc to buy penny candy and if we were lucky we\’d have a family dinner at Chuck-a-Rama. These childhood experiences in St George are what pulled me down here when the time to pick colleges came. I never, ever saw myself settling down in Southern Utah and now, fifteen years later, here we still are!
Driving home from the funeral through the tree-lined streets of Santa Clara I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my extended family and the magical upbringing I enjoyed with all of them. Soon it will be Swiss Days and all of the decorated cows will be out on the lawns and before I know it I\’ll be shopping for pumpkins at Frei’s Fruit Stand. I feel so deeply connected and grateful for these Swiss ancestors of mine and the amazing posterity that is my family.
I\’ll be revisiting blog posts from the old blog all week in commemoration of 10 years of blogging-join me in my week of nostalgia!
