Shepard Family Update, June 27, 2008

Dear Family members and friends,

Hello to all of you, wherever you may be. In California, Washington, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Texas, New Mexico or Oklahoma - whew!

Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know? William Shepard and Bura Davis were married in Beaver County, Oklahoma, 93 years ago this month. The fact that they chose to get married on her father's 45th birthday suggests something of the warmth and close bond that the family shared.

Little did Will and Bura know at the time that the two of them would be the progenitors of a family that, over the next hundred years, would include over 82 people! (One family birth or one marriage every year or so since they were married!) Even less could they have known that their descendants would live in a world where communication can occur across thousands of miles almost instantaneously by this wonderful thing called email. But what they did know is that their love of God and one another -- a love that they gladly shared with their children and grandchildren -- was a powerful bond that gave meaning and purpose to their lives. And for that we can all be thankful to God and remember them with immense appreciation and humility.

Speaking of email, one of my purposes in sending the weekly messages is to share family pictures with all of you. Not just so that you can enjoy them, but so that you can save them and share them with others. Every family photograph any of us has will continue to deteriorate, but the quality of digital images will never deteriorate. They will be the same or better when our grand children's grand children (and beyond) view them. So please feel free to save all the pictures I send onto your own computer. If you don't know how to save the pictures, ask one of the young people in your midst -- they probably do!

If you have other old or new family photos to share with the rest of us, please send them my way. Share the wealth! It is a great way to celebrate the family we are, to keep the memories alive, and to leave something valuable for those family members yet to be born.

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures. The first is a picture of Gram and Grandad on their wedding day in Beaver County Oklahoma in 1915, next to a picture of them at their 60th anniversary celebration in San Diego in 1975. They only celebrated one more anniversary together, since Grandad passed away in 1976. Gram died 10 years later and lived her last years with Maida and Gene Shepard in Anacortes, Washington.

The other is a picture of "the Yaya's" on their latest adventure. It was taken just last week at the Bandelier Indian ruins, a national monument in New Mexico. Pictured, left to right, are Cindy Shepard, Paula Harris, Barbara Shepard and Maida Shepard. Not pictured is Jane Clark who was planning to attend but had to cancel out at the last minute. Her father fell and was hospitalized with a broken hip (thankfully, he is out of the hospital now), AND her third grandchild was (and still is!) expected at any time. Our prayers and best wishes go out to Jane and her family. During the Yaya trip, we had a wonderful visit with Terry and Thelma Boyd of Gallup, New Mexico.

Just a few weeks away: Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington. Cindy and Nathan and I are looking forward to it very much. We hope you are too! If you will be UNABLE to attend, send a note or an email that can be read when we gather, so that we can hear how you and your loved ones are doing.
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Steve