Brothers and sisters...
We know each other as we always were.
We know each other's hearts.
We live outside the touch of time.
~Clara Ortega
Today is the wedding anniversary of Jerry Clark and Cathrina Helms Clark, who were married 9 years ago in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They live today in Lubbock, Texas.
The first picture shows Jerry and Cathrina back in 2010 when they were on vacation. Congratulations to both of them on 9 years of marriage!
National Siblings Day. This Friday, April 10, is National Siblings Day, a relatively new 21st century opportunity to celebrate one aspect of family. Our siblings are usually the persons we know longer than any other people in our lives. Siblings day is an occasion to show our gratitude for brothers and sisters. One of the things in my life for which I am most grateful is my upbringing. It is the thing for which I will forever be indebted to my mother and dad. Not only did that upbringing include a stable home in a fine neighborhood of San Diego, but it also included a rich church experience, a good public education, and a larger family experience of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, on both the Gower and Shepard sides of my family.
My family experience included being one of 6 siblings, whose births were spread out over 16 years, from 1946 to 1962. The third in that sextet was my sister Linda who died tragically in 1971 but who, through marriage, brought into our family Jerry Clark who has remained one of us through the years. Linda will always be remembered fondly when speaking about the children of Maida and Gene Shepard.
My siblings and I have each chosen a unique direction for ourselves, but it has all contributed to the beautiful collage that is our family's life. I am honored to have siblings who mean a lot to me, and who each contribute to the rich family experience we enjoy today.The first image is the most recent picture of me and my siblings together. It was taken at the last Shepard family reunion in Anacortes, Washington in August, 2013. From left to right are me (child #2 ), Darrell (child #4 ), Barbara (child #5), mom Maida Shepard, Gary (child #1) and Russell (child #6).
Though they are the senior siblings among us, this third picture shows them in about 1942 when Vicki (left) was 8 years old and Maida was 17 years old. These two pictures were taken in San Diego, shortly after the Gower family moved there from Oklahoma. Vicki Gower Johnston and Maida Gower Shepard live today in Western Washington, Vicki in Oak Harbor with her husband Duke, and Maida not far away in Anacortes with her daughter Barbara and grandson Steven.
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Steve Shepard
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