Summer Rerun/Reunion

Since I am heading off tomorrow for a family reunion, I thought it was an appropriate time to repost one of my favorite but most overlooked episodes of JunkThief TV about my family history. It may be a yawn inducer for many since it takes place in the pre-World War I era but does involve suicide, “bachelors” and travel. It also explains my roots in the Midwest and why I am happy to visit there but could never go back. And, just to ease the shock, I thought I would reveal that the reunion is in Branson, Missouri, perhaps one of the most surreal places on the planet, up there with Segou, Mali. Although most of my family is now from Oregon, Michigan, California, Oklahoma, Georgia and New York, the roots go back to southwest Missouri, and it has been in this “resort” community of the Ozarks that they choose to meet each summer. It’s always interesting to see the hyper-intellectual Oregonians and New Yorkers and the all-you-can-eat-buffet loving railroad engineers converge. I hope I survive to tell the tale.