Shepard Family Update, February 26, 2010

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I'm new wave,
but I'm old school
and my inner child
is outward bound.
~George Carlin

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings from Tucson, Arizona where Cindy and I find ourselves on these last few days of February, visiting friends. We are discovering that Tucson is a great place to be. In February!

Family Birthday Wishes. Happy Birthday tomorrow to my brother Darrell Shepard. He and his wife Mary make their increasingly empty nest in Kirkland, Washington, outside Seattle. Their three children Chris, Rachel and Patrick all live in the Kirkland area. Darrell tells me, "The kids are all doing fine. They all have jobs!"

The first picture I am including today shows a sharply dressed Darrell in the middle, surrounded by his four siblings, Barbara, Russ, me and Gary. The picture was taken in 1983 in Anacortes, Washington at the home of our parents Maida and Eugene Shepard, when we were all gathered for Barbara's wedding to Larry Shamblin. I seem to remember that this picture was taken by Jerry Clark. (Jerry, do you remember for sure?) Whoever it was did a great job.

More Birthday Wishes. Happy Birthday this coming Wednesday to Darrell's first niece Kerri (Shepard) Aquiningoc of Weatherford, Texas. She is also Maida and Eugene Shepard's first grandchild and the proud mother of Lyndsey and Mandi. She is also the second of the 20 Ggrandchildren of Will and Bura Shepard and the oldest child of Gary Shepard (the one on the bell bottoms in the picture above). Though 10 years removed from Southern California where she was raised, Kerri remains a die hard San Diego Padre and Charger fan.

The second picture I am including today shows Kerri with her two toe-headed nephews Nate and Kyle Sauvage, also Charger fans and children of Kelly and James Sauvage. This picture was taken just a few months ago in Weatherford, where the boys and their parents also live.

New Wave But Old School. After my comments in my last posting regarding "Old School", Jerry Clark was moved to send me the following quote from the late George Carlin. It carries a sentiment with which Jerry identifies, and I can understand that. Some of the rest of you do too, I am sure. 

"I'm a modern man, 
a man for the millennium. 
Digital and smoke free. 
A diversified multi-cultural, 
post-modern deconstruction 
that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. 
I've been up linked and downloaded, 
I've been inputted and outsourced, 
I know the upside of downsizing, 
I know the downside of upgrading. 
I'm a high-tech low-life. 
A cutting edge, 
state-of-the-art 
bi-coastal multi-tasker 
and I can give you a gigabyte 
in a nanosecond!

I'm new wave, but I'm old school 
and my inner child is outward bound. 
I'm a hot-wired, heat seeking, 
warm-hearted cool customer, 
voice activated and bio-degradable. 
I interface with my database, 
my database is in cyberspace, 
so I'm interactive, 
I'm hyperactive 
and from time to time I'm radioactive.

Behind the eight ball, 
ahead of the curve, 
ridin the wave, 
dodgin the bullet 
and pushin the envelope. 
I'm a rude dude, but I'm the real deal. 
Lean and mean! 
Cocked, locked and ready-to-rock. 
Rough, tough and hard to bluff. 
I take it slow, 
I go with the flow, 
I ride with the tide. 
I've got glide in my stride. 
Drivin' and movin', 
sailin' and spinin', 
jivin' and groovin', 
wailin' and winnin'. 
I don't snooze, so I don't lose. 
I keep the pedal to the metal 
and the rubber on the road. 
I party hearty and lunch time is crunch time. 
I'm hangin' in, there ain't no doubt, 
and I'm hangin' tough, over and out!"

And this is just a sampling of what Carlin had to say. If you dare, read the full quote by selecting this link.
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Steve

Shepard Family Update, February 19, 2010

The informality of family life
is a blessed condition 
that allows us to become our best
while looking our worst. 
~Marge Kennedy

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from San Francisco, California where Cindy and I are visiting with our son Nathan and his wife Chenda. They are heading into the home stretch with their first baby, due in another 6 weeks or so. She will be the 9th in the generation of Will and Bura's GGgrandchildren.

Today in many of our families, "Old School" refers to parents or grandparents who are dismayed to learn more about their kids or grandkids from Facebook postings than from direct conversation. Really "Old School" are parents or grandparents who don't even realize they could learn more about their kids or grandkids on Facebook. Really, REALLY "Old School" are parents or grandparents who read this paragraph and say, "What's Facebook?"  ;-)

Happy Birthday tomorrow to Terry Boyd of Gallup, New Mexico. Terry has been a part of our family for more than 50 years, ever since he and Thelma Shepard were married in San Diego back in the summer of 1958.

Speaking of the fabulous 1950s, the first picture I am including shows a dapper young Terry Boyd on the left, with an equally dapper young Rex Russell on the right. Just looking at the picture gets the "Happy Days" theme song playing in my mind.

Rex is the nephew of Thelma Shepard whom Terry married just a few months before this picture was taken. The neat and clean, but cool look, the short hair, the Chrysler with large fins, and the black and white photography, are all characteristic of that period in time. Since it is dated December, 1958, and since the fellows are both in short sleeves, this picture was probably taken in San Diego.

Now flash forward about 50 years for the second picture, which was taken in 2007. It shows Terry Boyd on the right, and Thelma (Shepard) Boyd on the left. Between them is their daughter Kim Clark, and their granddaughter Amanda Ortiz. Interestingly, Amanda in this second picture is just about the same age that her grandfather Terry was in the first picture.

Kim emailed me recently to say that this picture was taken at the home of Amanda's other grandparents (Gabe and Jean Ortiz) in Gallup, New Mexico. It was taken during one of trips that she and husband Jeff were making between San Diego (where her grandkids live) and Missouri (where she and Jeff live). She also said that these days her dad loves to go to the local pool and swim almost daily. He also likes playing pool and visiting with his buddies.

Any family reunions happening this summer? As far as I know the Shepard family is not having a family reunion this summer. Do any of you know differently? Or are there any reunions happening this year among our larger Davis family? Seems I heard some months ago about a reunion in Branson this summer. If anyone knows of events being planned please let me know and I would be glad to pass the word.
- - -
Steve

Shepard Family Update, February 12, 2010

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In family life,
love is the oil that eases friction,
the cement that binds closer together,
and the music that brings harmony. 
~Eva Burrows

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings on this weekend of Valentine's Day, a time to celebrate the joy of human love and the importance of love within our families.

I have been thinking a lot about 1980 recently. That was back before email, cell phones, and digital cameras. (How in the world did we get by?!) I am thinking a lot about that year because I have been scanning pictures from my photo archives from 1980, and my mind has been engrossed in remembering family events that took place.

It boggles my mind to realize that 1980 was 30 years ago! That year Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter to become president, HP announced the release of its first PC, the Iran hostage crisis took place, Mount St. Helen's erupted, John Lennon died, and Jeremy Ortiz was born.

William Shepard had been gone barely 3 years in 1980, and Bura (Davis) Shepard, who began the year at 83 years old, was still fairly healthy. She was living with family in San Diego but would relocate the next year to Anacortes, Washington for the last 5 years of her life. 1980 was just about half my life ago. That year I turned 32, which is the same age that our son Nathan is now, so for me it was just about a generation ago.


Virtually all of us Shepards lived in San Diego during what I like to call "the Golden Years" of Will and Bura's family: 1940's, 50's, 60's and even into the 70's. But by 1980 many in the family had moved away and and were living elsewhere in California or in other places like Washington State, Texas and New Mexico. Pauline (Shepard) Russell was their only child still residing in the San Diego area with her family. So 1980 was a year when our family was still very much in transition geographically.

The first picture I am including is from 1980 and shows a 59 year old Eugene Shepard (in the middle) with two of his sons (me on the left, Gary on the right) and the only two grandsons he had at the time (Nathan on the far left, Jason on the far right). It was taken in San Diego while Eugene and Maida were back visiting in Southern California after they had retired to Washington State in 1978.

Of all the descendants of Will and Bura Shepard today, over half have been born since 1980, including most of their Ggrandchildren and all of their GGgrandchildren. This is just one indicator of how much our family has changed in the last 30 years. Thank God for the changes! Even though we have had to say goodbye to some wonderful family members, we can still be grateful for the newness that the last 30 years has brought. For new children who remind us all to safeguard the future. For new marriages that ensure the continuation of our family legacy. For new parents and grandparents who keep the memories and values of previous generations alive.

With all the changes in our family in the last 3 decades, one can only imagine how much our family will change in the next 3 decades. I hope to be around to see it happen.

The second picture shows love birds Maida and Gene Shepard back in 1944. This picture is part of a larger Valentine's Day photo display. Select this link  to see this collection of family photos that celebrates love among us.
- - -
Steve

Shepard Family Update, February 5, 2010

We cannot destroy kindred:
our chains stretch a little sometimes,
but they never break.
~Marquise de Sévigné

Hello Shepard family and friends,

Greetings to all of you wherever you may be. It has been a cool, delightful winter week here in our home town, with some family drama. But life goes on and it is all good.

Wedding Bells! The latest adventure in matrimony in our family occurred two weeks ago when Havilah Colgain married Kevin Wardle in a beautiful wilderness area called "The Little Grand Canyon", south of Price, Utah. Havilah is the daughter of Art Colgain of Kaysville, Utah, and Joan Shepard of Dixon, California. She is also Elmer Shepard's granddaughter. She wrote the following about recent events.

The wedding was fabulous. The weather was great and we all had a blast. I was determined to get a picture of me shooting my 9mm in my wedding dress - the photographer got it! Lol! Mom did target practice, too, and did really well. When she starting doing a victory dance with the gun, we had to take it away from her. There is a priceless picture of her sledding, too. She had so much fun. It was definitely the most perfect day.

Kauai was beautiful. We saw a whale jump completely out of the water. The dolphins swam right next to the boat. We met a few turtles on the beach, as well as a seal. I am a big fan of tropical plants and I couldn't stop ooing and awing every moment of every day. We made it home with more additions to our already mammoth houseplant inventory. Thanks for all your emails and notes. We so appreciate your love and support. -Havilah

The first picture I am including shows Havilah in her wedding dress on her wedding day, January 23. The second picture show her with her new husband Kevin while they were honeymooning in Kauai, Hawaii last week. They make their home now in West Valley City, Utah. Best wishes to them for a wonderful life together!

Two Buttes Memories. Last week I included a picture of Havilah's Ggrandfather William Shepard taken in the early 1930's. After Will's niece Norma Lou (Kilpatrick) Allen of Bolivar, Missouri saw that picture, she emailed me with some childhood recollections.

Hi Steve: Thanks for the picture of "Uncle Will" (as I knew him). I always thought he was a lot of fun. He used to tease me. I would occasionally see him in Two Buttes, Colorado when I was just a little girl (born in 1928). I would be on the way home from school and would see him sitting on a crate in front of the grocery store.

We lived about two miles out of town on a farm. My dad, Barney Kilpatrick, was married to Winona Davis, Bura's sister. My daddy and my Uncle Bill ("Will Allie" Kilpatrick) farmed together. I remember a beautiful alfalfa field between our farms, watered by irrigation. When water came in we kids all got to go down and play in the irrigation ditch; a wonderful thing, we thought. :-)

I only signed in to tell you that that is just the way Uncle Will looked. When the dust bowl hit (1935), everyone moved to California and our family moved to Missouri. We enjoy your letters and pictures so much. Thank you. -Norma Lou Allen.

This final picture I am including today, like last week's picture of William Shepard, was taken in Two Buttes, Colorado, in the 1930's. It shows Will and Bura Shepard's younger son Eugene William Shepard. On the back of the original photo is the date of Feb., 1935 (75 years ago this month) which would make Gene Shepard 13 years old at the time.
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Steve