March Through Time

Time is a global phenomenon in which we all travel. It is categorized as past, present, and future. However, if you really think about it, the past is only memories, and with a tick of the clock, the future becomes the present, and the present becomes the past. It stands to reason that family reunions are focused on the past.

I was always told I was an only child, but I was never convinced. Read on and you'll see why. In 1914, Obe and Orene Hamiter had a baby girl and named her Mary Hattie (my mother). My Grandmother, Orene, died at 34 years of age, giving birth to her eleventh child, leaving one older and seven younger children behind for Mary Hattie to help raise--Lynn (Buddy), Clyde, Marvin, R. E., Ernest, Glenn, and her two "Special Treasures", Alma and John (Clarence), because they were still just babies. Since untimely death made these siblings her first children, their children seemed more like her grandchildren than her nieces and nephews.

Years later, I was born. I had a hard time understanding how I was an only child when my mother had already raised eight kids and had a whole passel of grandchildren (nieces and nephews), who were really my first cousins--Tim, Patsy, Ivey, Yvette, Glendon, Hilda and Margaret (step cousins), Bobbie, Carol Lynn, Obie, Raymond, Robert, Judie, Kay, Garry, Johnny, Connie, Reba, Debbie, and Jill (the youngest; but feistiest). All of this made me a very lucky only child. Because of twists of fate, some of these first cousins seem like my inherited brothers and sisters.

Now, I have a child of my own, Jordan, and the saga continues. He entered a family of great aunts--Alma, Glenn, Arlene, Nettie, Bonnie, Ria, and Gladys--and great uncles--Marvin, R. E., Earnest Covington, Ernest Hamiter, Jerry, Clarence, Buddy, and Clyde. However, Jordan also seems to have an Aunt Reba Jo; an Aunt Connie and Uncle Danny; an Aunt Judie and Uncle Dale; an Aunt Jill and Uncle Steve; an Aunt Debbie; and an Aunt Bobbie. A stranger to the Hamiter Clan would have trouble unraveling how Jordan, whose mother is an only child, ended up with all these aunts and uncles. But we understand.

Jordan may have all these aunts, uncles, and cousins, but there is only one Grandmother, Mary Hattie, and they love each other dearly. She is the oldest living descendant of Obe and Orene Hamiter.

Thanks to all of you for giving me this great-big wonderful family!

*Obe and Orene Hamiter had approximately 94 direct descendants; 84 of which are still living. What an amazing legacy!!!

Glynis