The
Force is Strong in Our Family
Ray and Constance Strong |
In one of the
Star Wars movies, Yoda tells Luke Skywalker that the Force is strong in his family.
I recently had the blessing of attending
a family reunion for my mother’s family (The Strong Family). So, I can say that
in our family the Force IS Strong. Ray & Constance Strong are my mother’s parents,
and it was their decedents that were there to celebrate the legacy that they
built. Ray and Constance had seven children and four of the siblings were
there. The oldest brother passed away a few years ago and two could not attend.
My mother, Allis, is the one on the far left.
Ray and Constance Strong's Children |
One of the forces that was strong at that
reunion was the love that all the family members had for Ray and Constance and
for everyone that was there. It had been many years since the last time I had
been with this side of our family. We had a wonderful time. Many times, family
reunions are filled with drama but in this family, while there was a lot of
drama it was in the telling of stories about our parents growing up and sharing
memories of when we were young, the family visits, and time spent with aunts,
uncles and cousins will never be forgotten. There was a joy that is difficult
to explain but remains in my heart today. There were cousins that I had not
seen for a long time and others that I had never met. I had so much fun getting
to know these second cousins (the children of my cousins) and hope that I had
the same impact that they had on me.
They are all beautiful young women and
full of life. I am sure that they will remember me as one of the craziest of uncles
because of the experience that I shared with them one morning at breakfast. I
woke that morning and went to take a shower and found a little blue dot with
the number 806 printed on it on my chest. I had no idea where it came from (I
was not wearing any new clothes that would have had a tag on it). I told them
that I thought that maybe the angle of death had visited me during the night
and marked me but never got around to number 806 so I was still alive. Whenever
any of them saw me they would always ask how 806 was doing and I would respond
that I was still alive and well. I told them that I had my invisibility cloak
and was still avoiding the angel of death.
Third generation Strong's |
Waiter with the Deathly Hallows Tatoo |
We at lunch at a
pizza place just off the Indiana University campus, where we were staying, and
our waiter had a deathly hallows tattoo on his arm. When he found out my name,
he had to have a picture with the “real” Harry Potter.
Uncle Ray and family |
Our Strong family is descended from Elder John Strong who immigrated from England in the 1600s. We also have ancestors that came to America on the Mayflower. We even have royal blood coursing our veins. We have John, King of England (who signed the Magna Carta), Charlemagne, and William the Conqueror as our ancestors. We followed one of the lines all the way back to Adam and Eve. There are 140 generations from my children to Adam. One of my cousins found out her grandparents (or great grandparents, I don’t remember which) were from Russia. The power of Elijah was strong and the excitement evident as we looked up our ancestors and discovered new things and our hearts were indeed turned to our “fathers”.
One of the most
evident forces that the Strong family have is the love that they have for God.
There were many different faiths represented in the family, but the love for
God that Constance and Ray instilled in their children is strong and continues
with their grandchildren, great grandchildren and will continue for generations
yet to come.
Ray and Constance not only taught their children to love God but to love their country and the importance of being involved in activities that promote the values we have as families.
Ray and Constance not only taught their children to love God but to love their country and the importance of being involved in activities that promote the values we have as families.
Here are more
pictures of those that were at the Strong family Reunion.
My cousin Narissa (Uncle Doug's Daughter) and family |
Aunt Abbie and her husband Dick |
My Mother, Allis and family |
I want to
express my appreciation to all those who worked hard and long preparing for the
Strong family reunion and especially to my mother, Allis Potter, who made it
possible for all her children to be there. I am grateful for the kindness and
love that we all felt as we met together and for the bond that ties us together
as a family. Not only is the force strong in our family but the Strong family
is the force that binds us together now and forever.
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are welcome.
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