Forty Years Ago, July 23, 2013

I'm inspired by my own children,

how full they make my heart. 

They make me want to make the world better.

And they make me want to be a better man.”

~Barack Obama

Hello family and friends. Greetings to all of you from San Diego.

Happy Birthday Shannon! Tomorrow, July 24, is the birthday of Shannon Wilk, one of the Great Grandchildren of Will and Bura Davis Shepard. Shannon was born 40 years ago in San Diego to Phil and Beverly Russell Wilk. She lives today with her daughter Emma in Atchison, Kansas, near where her father's family originated.

Shannon: We are doing well. The carnival is in town this weekend so we are going to that. I don't have any plans for my birthday. Dinner with friends, maybe go dancing. Nothing big. I was going to do something special but with work and life itself, dinner and good company seems good enough. Emma is going to make me wear a Hello Kitty Birthday Girl pin to work. It only seems right, I made her wear it on hers. It doesn't seem like I'm going to be forty. Karl and mom didn't make it this far. I have some wonderful angels watching over me and Emma. Take care.

The first picture shows Shannon at just a few months old with her brother, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. From left to right in the picture are Karl Wilk, Beverly Russell Wilk (holding Shannon), Pauline Shepard Russell, and Bura Davis Shepard.

40 Years Ago. 1973 was a significant year in our family for a number of reasons. Not only was Shannon born in July, her second cousin Kelly Shepard (Sauvage) was born in September of that year, also in San Diego. In addition, it was the year that Cindy and I moved back to Southern California, having been in graduate School for a couple of years in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was also in the summer of '73 that our family made a memorable trip to Yosemite, and enjoyed ourselves camping and hiking.

The second picture was taken on Glacier Point in the summer of '73. With Half Dome providing an impressive background, from left to right are Gary and Jackie Shepard, Darrell Shepard with niece Kerri in front of him, Maida Shepard with son Russ behind her, me with nephew Jason Shepard in the backpack, and Cindy Shepard on the right. 

Upcoming Family Reunion. In just a few short weeks, on Saturday, August 10, our family will gather in a family reunion in Anacortes, Washington. All family members and friends are invited to join us for this reunion.

A number of pictures were taken -- as always -- at the last Family Reunion in Anacortes, including the final picture of this post. It shows my nephew Patrick Shepard looking very fatherly as he holds one year old Logan Shepard, the son of his cousin Nathan Shepard. Any time now Patrick will get to hold his own son. He and his wife Nicole are expecting their first child very soon.

This Just In. Moments before posting this, I saw on Facebook a message from Heather Robson Cotton (one of Leroy and Nola Gower's Ggrandchildren), wishing her daughter Victoria a happy birthday. Tori was born on this day 6 years ago! We celebrate with her and her family, including grandmother Paula Tuzzolino and Ggrandmother Vicki Johnston.
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Steve Shepard