The BIG Weekend

To borrow an old Ed Sullivan cliché, it was a REEELY BIG WEEKEND.

And it’s taken me a reeely long time to write about it because it took a reeely long time for it to settle in my mind.

(There’s a dash of blog fatigue in the mix here too. I haven’t written anything of substance on this site for months. It’s my retirement mode: when something feels too much like work I just don’t do it…I need to sort out a few things in that regard.)

To get back to it: The BIG WEEKEND was a while ago, June of 2022.

It was pretty momentous for the participants, all descendants of Everett and Catherine Haines.

Some background is in order.

Everett and Catherine had three sons, myself and then Roger and then Rick. Brother Rick died on March 25, 2021 in Contoocook, New Hampshire. I touched on that briefly here.

Plans for a celebration of his life were made for that summer of 2021, giving family in Florida and elsewhere time to plan. Cousins Amy and Jenn (next generation behind me) found a large former inn in nearby Bradford we could rent for the travelers. It was a reeely BIG house! And it needed to be. The out-of-town crowd numbered 17.

Covid entered. The event moved to the following year and in June of 2022 it happened. We descended upon the Bradford Village Inn (eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and numerous parlors and other communal areas both indoor and outdoor).

It was a splendid choice. All of us were together and there were plenty of bathrooms, a couple of large communal areas and several smaller, quiet spaces for folks to use if the need was there.

Brother Rick was among us, his presence felt in the quiet meeting of family and friends on the lawn next to the pond at his house in Contoocook on Saturday. It was a nice time of peaceful reflection, kind words from friends and family, and, yes, some laughter.

Followed by good food. Good food was the anchor of the entire weekend, from the meals at the BIG HOUSE to the gathering at Rick’s house and even the snacks during the 9-mile canoe ride down the Contoocook River on Sunday.

And Rick’s memory wasn’t the only celebration. The occasion also marked the 50^th Wedding Anniversary of my brother Roger and his wife Beth.

Lots of milestones that weekend, a brother gone, a 50-year marriage celebrated and a large extended family all together for the first time.

It was one of the good ones. Enjoy the photos.

A Celebration of Richard Haines