"Anybody feel like grabbing a couple of burgers and hitting the cemetery? ..." www.scribd.com/doc/.../The-Royal-Tenenbaums-Script










Great weekend in Pittsburgh offers many unexpected treasures. My husband's aunt has not been feeling well this summer. We decided in the true Irish family tradition to call a gathering of the clan hoping to cheer her spirits before the surgery. A quick all point bulletin brought together twelve family members for the weekend. I lovingly prepared and packed the Saturday night supper meal of; Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Boston Baked Beans seasoned with Brown Sugar, Onions and Bacon,Brown Bread, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Corn Relish-Sliced Tomatoes. To complete the meal I baked Fresh Peach Pie & Frosted Dark Fudge Pecan Brownies for dessert.

Saturday morning we scrambled from Shadyside to picked Barry up at the Pittsburgh International Airport. First stop Resurrection Cemetery for a visit with my parents. http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A6816

We didn't really have a picnic at the graves, maybe next time we will. We did place floral sprays I made for the Rice graves, share some stories of good times with grandma and grandpa, catch them up on our latest life adventures then say a prayer before Barry treated us to brunch at Eat & Park an Pittsburgh tradition .

It was during brunch I suggested we stop at a new Shaw Gallery http://www.shawgalleries.com/Shaw_Galleries/Welcome.html featuring historical maps. Everyone was in agreement to see this new gallery as we all get excited about history. That was easy, with everyone in agreement to go Jim, Barry, Kara and I delved right into the collection of maps. Faces down, squealing with delight we were prompted by the owner to more maps that could be of interest to us, occasionally pointing out areas of interest to each other. EUREAKA !!! One stop that captivated four people;~)

Before I do anything I enjoy doing my research. I had learned that Kurt's interest in maps was fostered by his grandfather who was a fisherman. This sounds nice, I'm thinking, I wish I could have met the grandfather also. I am getting curiouser and curiouser.

After about ten minutes of glee perusing the gallery, I introduced myself as a Canevin alum '74, to the proprietor Kurt Shaw. Obviously a younger man, wise beyond his years, Kurt mentions one of my classmates who also happens to be his cousin. For the next three minutes names are flying back and forth until we had so many names in common that Kurt and I determined a startling revelation. His map collecting, fisherman, grandfather and my mother's older brother are the same person. I had met his grandfather only his was my uncle to my way of thinking.
After getting over the shock and chills of finding a new blood connection we find we have much in common sharing the family tree from different perspectives. Sure hope we can drive back to Pittsburgh to attend the official Grand Opening September 11th 5:30- 9pm.