A Nightmare On My Street, October 30, 2015

'Tis now the very witching time of night,

When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out

Contagion to this world.

~William Shakespeare

Hello on this weekend of Halloween from Anacortes, Washington where Cindy and I and Grandsons William and Logan are visiting with family and celebrating some special events.

Birthday Wishes to Pam! Happy Birthday today to Pam Engan Shepard, wife of my brother Russell Shepard. Pam and Russ are the parents of Steven Paul and Linda Shepard. Pam has lived in Anacortes, Washington all her life and works there today at the Cap Sante Inn.

This first picture shows Pam and Russ this past summer at our family reunion in Bothell, Washington. Best wishes to Pam for a very Happy Birthday!

Nightmare on My Street. The following is a musical slide show capturing many halloween moments in the life of our larger family over the years. All of the folks you will see in this slide show are from our varied and diverse family. Can you identify them all? It's not as easy as you might think.




Some of the above images are classics from many years ago (one is from 60+ years ago!) while others are very recent and still others are just a few years old. These Halloween revelers are from places as diverse as California and Texas, Washington and Kansas, Pennsylvania and Missouri, and Oklahoma and Illinois. As varied as the locations are, there is one thing all these creepy critters have in common: the spirit of Halloween!

Birthday Wishes to Maida! Happy Birthday this Sunday, November 1, to my mom Maida Shepard, who will be 91 years young! She was born in Arkansas, but lived for most of her growing up years in Okemah, Oklahoma. The last 72 years of her life have been divided equally between San Diego, California (where she and husband Eugene raised their 6 children) and Anacortes, Washington (where she now lives with daughter Barb and grandson Steven).

This picture shows Maida with her 5 children: Russell, Barbara, Darrell, Gary and me. This picture was taken this past August in Bothell, Washington.
-- -
Steve Shepard

Happy Independence Day! July 1, 2012

Family is what grounds you.

~Angelina Jolie

Hello Family and Friends,

On this week of July 4, several family celebrations are in order.

Happy Birthday today to Becky Clark Cave who lives in Weatherford, Texas with her husband Matthew and their 3 children. She is the oldest daughter of Jerry Clark and Jane Brock of Lubbock, Texas.

Happy Anniversary. Today we also congratulate Sean and Heather Robson Cotton of San Antonio, Texas, who celebrate 12 years of marriage. Heather is a Granddaughter of my aunt Vicki Johnston and the daughter of my cousin Paula Tuzzolino of Oak Harbor, Washington. Heather is also one of the Ggrandchildren of Leroy and Nola Gower.

The first picture shows Heather with her husband Sean and their daughters Victoria and Alexandria.

A 147th Birthday. Today, July 1, was also the birthday of my Ggrandmother Elvira Owens Shepard. Elvira is our connection to our Owens roots of 19th century Madison County, Illinois. Her Owens kinfolk consisted of a strong family with healthy roots, that I have written about in this blog a number of times. Elvira's parents Payton and Mary Wheeler Owens, were early Illinois land owners who began the establishment of the Owens family in Madison County, a presence that continues there to this day. Elvira's Ggrandparents Edmund and Sarah Rives Owens were both originally from Virginia and were children on the very first July 4th celebration in 1776.

Coming from a strong family, it was ironic that in the early 1880s, as a young woman, Elvira met and fell in love with a vagabond from Indiana named William Elmer Shepard, who had no connection to his family. His father had died in the Civil War when he was an infant, and by the time he became a teenager, he was at such odds with his step family that he left his Indiana home and never looked back. For whatever reason he landed in Illinois, where he met Elvira. In 1886 they married and over the course of the next few years had two children, Sadie and William. (I would eventually become a grandchild of William.)

Elvira was born July 1, 1865, just 3 days before the first July 4th celebration after the Civil War. It was a time of new beginnings, following one of the darkest times in our nation's history. But it was an incredibly formative time for our country as well. Some would say July 4, 1865 represented an even more defining moment for our nation than July 4, 1776. The Civil War was a devastating experience, but it brought our nation to a much more complete and mature understanding of who we are. Our identity shifted dramatically from being a group of independent states to being a united people. Before 1865 people always said "the United States ARE..." (plural verb, emphasizing the states). After 1865, when people spoke of our county they said, "the United States IS..." (singular verb, emphasizing the union).

Elvira, her family of origin as well as her own family, were all a part of this "new" nation, after the Civil War, a nation that was continuing to evolve and become something that we still celebrate today. The second picture shows Elvira and two of her grandchildren, Elmer and Pauline Shepard. This picture was taken about 1919 in Beaver County, OK., where Elvira and her family migrated in the early 1900s and where she lived the rest of her life.

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Steve

Erin Go Braugh! March 14, 2011

Never slow down,

Never grow old.

~Tom Petty

Hello Family and Friends,

Today is the birthday of my "brother by another mother," one-time brother-in-law but now adopted sibling, Jerry Clark. Jerry lives in Lubbock, Texas with his wife Cathrina and works with his daughter Susan in their business selling yearbooks and class rings. His favorite saying these days is the quote at the top of this post. Happy Birthday, Jerry!

Jerry and wife Cathrina Clark
with Maida Shepard in the middle

Jerry: "I know our dads never met, but in my mind I think they might have walked past each other some where in the dust of Oklahoma and Colorado. I do know that we are related now and how great it is to be a part of the Davis-Shepard family tree. Linda was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life.

"As far as how things are going now... it is great to be a granddad. Cathrina and I love all 8 grand kids (5 of mine and 3 of hers).

"Work is busy here with the end of school near. After 30 years of school related business I am thankful that I never had to have a real job! Working with Susan is a blessing and I think we have never had a cross word about business. She turns 31 (as does Amanda) this year. God has blessed us.

Jerry with grandkids
Miller and Emmerson Cave

"Cat and I are attending a start up church in Lubbock called Experience Life. Young preacher really hits on all cylinders and we feel the spirit working. Everyone is welcome to dusty west Texas to see us at the casa!"

Coffee With Clark. Jerry shared with me the link to Coffee With Clark, the blog of his brother Terry Clark. It is very well written and worth a look. Terry's blog is included in the list of links you can find online at The Shepard's Crook (the main page, right hand column, under Blogs and Sites of Family and Friends).

Erin Go Braugh! With Saint Patrick's Day coming up this Thursday, it is the perfect opportunity to celebrate our Irish Heritage. I have identified 11 different people in our family tree who immigrated to America from Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first in the list below is an ancestor of my paternal grandmother Bura Davis Shepard. The others are all ancestors of my maternal grandmother Nola Shannon Gower.

Here then is our family's own personal Irish Hall of Fame:

• James Spear (1768-1821), Bura Davis' Ggrandfather, from County Armaugh, Ireland.
• Thomas Shannon (1686-1737) and wife Eigness (Reid) Shannon (1686-1737), Nola Shannon Gower's GGGgrandparents from Munster, Ireland.
• Mary Maxwell (1634-1680) and her daughter Jane Alexander (1665-1691), Nola's GGGGGG grandmother from Donegal, Ireland.
• Mary Hamilton (1600-1634), Nola's GGGGGGGG grandmother, also from Donegal, Ireland.
• William Gray (1771-1865), Nola's GG grandfather from Antrim, Ireland.
• Margaret (Pike) Pickens (1672-1740) and her son Israel Pickens (1693-1749), Nola's GGGG grandfather from Limerick, Ireland.
• George Davice (b. 1660) and his daughter Martha Davice/Davis (1708-1774), Nola's GGGG grandmother from Donegal, Ireland.

Each of these persons has their own stories of hardships and happiness, only a few of which we will ever know. Some of these stories I have shared in this blog before and others I plan to share in future posts. We can be grateful for their courage and celebrate the Irish blood that flows through us because of them. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
- - -
Steve

Family From So Cal to North Texas

Happy or unhappy,

families are all mysterious.

We have only to imagine

how differently we would be described

- and will be, after our deaths -

by each of the family members
who believe they know us.

~Gloria Steinem

Hello Shepard Family and Friends.

Greetings once again from Tucson, Arizona where it is summertime and the living is easy -- if you're a lizard, a tarantula or a scorpion. We have had a great time, but we are ready to head back to the coast and the cool weather of San Diego.

Happy Birthday Desiree. Today, July 6, is the birthday of Desiree Ortiz, wife of Jeremy Ortiz of Spring Valley, California. Desiree and Jeremy are the parents of Ciara, Ashlyn and Damian Ortiz, who are among the grandchildren of Kim Boyd Clark, and the GGgrandchildren of Will and Bura Shepard. 

The first picture I am including today was taken last summer, and shows Desiree holding son Damian, with Ciara over her left shoulder, held by Desiree's sister-in-law Amanda Ortiz. 

Happy Birthday Nate! Tomorrow is the 8th birthday of Nathaniel "Nate" Sauvage, son of James and Kelly Shepard Sauvage of Weatherford,Texas. Nate is another of the GGgrandchildren of Will and Bura Shepard.

The second picture I am including shows Nate by himself on the left, while on the right is Nate with his younger brother Kyle and his maternal grandfather Gary Shepard of Oak Harbor, Washington. Both parts of this picture were taken just last month in Weatherford, Texas.

His mom Kelly wrote me and said: "Nate is always busy playing and making new friends. Every time we go to a new place Nate will say, “Mommy, can I go meet some new friends”?  That boy has never met a stranger in his life. He also has been busy with summer camp. He goes swimming two times a week and has a field trip at least once a week. Every day he comes home with a couple of projects he made during the day and great stories of all the fun he has had that day. He also loves to visit his Great-Grandmother who is in a local nursing home. He likes to push her in her wheel chair and talk to all the residents.

It doesn’t take much to make him happy. Give him a pile of dirt and a shovel and he can stay busy for hours. Nate is an extremely loving child and such a joy to be around."

Belated Birthday wishes to Becky Clark Cave whose 33rd birthday was last Thursday. Thanks to Becky's sister Amanda for letting me know of the oversight. Becky, the oldest daughter of Jerry Clark and Jane Brock, lives in Weatherford, Texas with her husband Matthew and their children Miller and Emmerson. The final picture I am including today shows Becky and her family in a picture taken in 2008.

- - -
Steve