16 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and 9 great-great-grandchildren

My grandmother on my father’s side passed away last week. She had been ill for several months after suffering a nasty fall in her nursing home. My brother and I picked up our younger sister, and made our way to Louisville Kentucky to pay our last respects and be with our family. Our sister had driven from Atlanta to Greenville and we met her off 385 on our way up. It was an eleven-hour trip, and one that I made with some reluctance. I have to limit exposure to my sister and I thought that spending hours in a confined space with her would make me say or do something I would surely regret, but this trip was different. We laughed, told stories about our own road trips as kids, and enjoyed each other’s company amidst the incredible vistas of the Great Smokey Mountains. We indulged ourselves in barbeque at establishments that neither of our spouses would be caught dead in. We reconnected with cousins we had not seen in many years. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and promised to keep in touch. For many years, way too many to count, I have avoided spending time with my family other than on the emblematic holidays, because as we all know, moderation is the key to enjoying any potentially dangerous cocktail. However, I had a profound revelation on this trip, on this sad and mournful journey I came to appreciate that the bonds of family are stronger than any petty vice, blood is indeed thicker than water, and in the absence of our kids and our significant others, we realized that we are who we are, and that it’s ok to be that way. My cousin Richard said it with the simplest eloquence; “Look around you guys, look at all these children. If it weren’t for Grandma, none of us would be here today” This man, this stranger, opened his home to us and welcomed us with open arms, because we share a common thread without which none of us would exist, because we’re family.

POE, ESTHER MAE RICE, 87, our beloved mother, passed away Thursday, March 22, 2007 at River View Village in Clarksville, IN. Formerly of Louisville, she retired from Kentucky Baptist Hospital as a nurse aid, was past president and a life member of VFW Auxiliary and Robert E. Newman Post. She was preceded in death by her husband, Hubert Edgar Poe. She is survived by two sons, Edgar Ray Poe and Charles Walter Poe; two daughters, Carol F. Egbert and Linda Sanders; 16 grandchildren; 38 great- grandchildren; and nine great-great- grandchildren. Graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, March 26, 2007 in the Evergreen Cemetery. Visitation is from 4-8 p.m. on Sunday at the Neurath and Underwood Funeral Home (between Clays and Shelby Sts.)