“The RoseBouquet”

This past weekend I had company from out of town again. This time it was my favourite uncle and aunt from my Mom’s side of the family. Uncle Henry and Aunt Frieda Kroeker from Castor, Alberta, came for a 50th anniversary of their friends Walter and Hannah Andres in Rosthern.

(Remember, my brother Tom and I went to our uncle and aunt’s 50th anniversary the Victoria Day weekend in May? Well, their good friends, the Andres were there too, and now it was time to reciprocate, as these two couples got married the same year and both Uncle Henry and Walter had been school teachers).

Uncle Henry is legally blind now with macular degeneration, so Aunt Frieda has had to learn to drive in her senior years. However, she refuses to drive in a city as big as Saskatoon. So they get around that by driving as far as her sister’s place in Rosetown, a town about an hour and a half from this city. Then they catch a bus to come to Saskatoon, and I meet them there and chauffeur them around.

On Friday I went home an hour early and hurried to get supper ready, and a bit of tidying up, then a bit after 6 pm I dropped everything and raced over to the bus depot, which is not more than 5 minutes away. Their bus pulled in almost immediately, so I didn’t even have to sit down to read. After our initial greetings we hurried out around the corner to my car and I brought them home for supper.

Over the table I suggested that I call my cousin June and invite her and her family over for the dessert, so they could visit with them too. They agreed, so I did, but June came alone. We had a pleasant visit, though she had to be up and going to chauffeur her son to some event with his friend. I don’t think it lasted a whole hour.

My uncle and aunt were willing to sleep on the mats and quilts I brought out (my house is too tiny for a real guest room and proper double bed) - which we laid out in the pantry.

Before noon on Saturday we were dressed for the anniversary, and headed out. First stopping at a WalMart for some camera batteries and a watch battery. We also stopped at a bulk baking supplies place just outside of Rosthern, but still arrived at the church the same time as the Andres and some of their family.

Two things stand out from that celebration. I found myself networking around and realizing that I knew many of the Neudorf cousins from that large extended clan that showed up. (Hannah is a second cousin to Mom and Uncle Henry, etc). But my uncle did not know most of these second cousins of his, so I found myself in the delightful role of introducing them.

Secondly, I think we were all taken aback a bit to discover that the Andres’ daughter Michelle and her husband were expecting their tenth child, and besides the nine they had already, they had adopted 5 more. So in December their count will be 15. Their oldest daughter was married and she and her husband had already adopted three or four too! Aunt Frieda was really flabbergasted.

Now, come to think of it, my great-grandfather Jacob Neudorf had 18 children - with two wives.

Anyway, they had their return bus ticket to Rosetown for 6 pm in Saskatoon, so we had to excuse ourselves before the cake cutting and head back to the city. just in time too. I got them there at 5:45 and in five minutes they were boarding the bus. Not quite a whole 24 hours I had with them.