THE ARNDT FAMILY REUNION

Here is a story that I like to to tell,
and one that I gladly remember so well:

I can remember a long-ago year---back when our Grandmother Arndt was still here---
Early in August when field corn was high and after the fireworks and Fourth of July
A postcard arrived announcing the date for a family reunion in the next state.
My mother was happy because it had been a while since she’d seen her kith and her kin.
Her brothers and sisters were married and grown, busy with spouses and kids of their own;
But now she would see her family when all of the Arndts got together again.

And when the day came we climbed in the car. We had to leave early because it was far
Across Indiana, up hill and down, past cornfields and cattle, through city and town.
We might see a rainbow---or even a skunk---but weren’t far away when we got to Minonk.
The next stop was Rutland at its village park, where the Arndt family had hung its hallmark.
Tables were covered with good things to eat, mingled with laughter and fellowship sweet.
The dozens of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends, picnicked together until the day ends.

Those days are now over, as all of us know, when we were children a long time ago.
My mother, her brothers and sisters are gone; a few of us cousins are still hanging on.
Those who are able meet once every year and hold a reunion with relatives near;
The banner is hung, the tables are spread, things come to order, the minutes are read;
Our Grandparents Arndt, a prolific pair, remembered and honored in spirit are there,
As well as their children, eleven in all---five sons and six daughters I fondly recall.

I count myself lucky, as blessed as can be,
to tell this sweet story of my family tree.

By Helen Jasperson Ewoldsen
(Daughter of Martha Arndt Jasperson)
August, 2004