The Long and the Short of It

Here I am, hijacking the Ursaki blog again.  Can't. Help. Myself.
  So. . . there was this gathering of all available Ursaki cousins at my parent's home this summer.  I was somewhere in the middle of the Baltic Sea when it happened and when I saw the posted photos of my cousins and siblings I was so JEALOUS!  The last time I saw Carol and Bruce and their boys was, I believe, when I was seventeen.  We had made a trip out to Regina and they were there at the same time that we were.  If my math serves me correctly, that was (gulp) thirty-eight years ago!  I had to smile when I saw the photo of Carol and my brother, Michael, at the cousins gathering.  They are the oldest and youngest of the seventeen cousins and also the shortest and tallest, respectively!  

Just a couple of weeks ago I was up in Vancouver visiting mom and dad.  We took a little trip together to Lynne (Ursaki) and Brian Selinger's home in Vernon.  Lynne and Brian were wonderful hosts . . . good company, beautiful home in a forest setting, delicious food (I'm still thinking about the plum kuchen, peach pie, grilled cod, roasted free range chicken . . . oh yeah), lots of cribbage, a trip to the farmer's market, a bonus visit from Kathy and Duke . . . it was fabulous.  One evening, Lynne pulled out some old slides and we had a great time looking at old photos of the family.  I sat and took pictures of the slides on the wall with my point and shoot camera.  Some of them actually turned out pretty well and some of them, not so much.  One of the photos was taken at Grandma Ursaki's 80th birthday and it shows Carol on one side of Grandma and Michael on the other.  The long and short of it thirty-two years ago . . . 

I'll wrap up this post with a few photos from our trip to Lynne and Brian's place.  

 Lynne and my mom, Barbara (Bullock) Ursaki

 Breakfast in the dining nook.  I felt like I was staying at a high-end B&B!

 Lynne and me (Sandra Ursaki Hale)

 Kathy Ursaki (Lynne's sister), me, Lynne and my dad, Harold Ursaki

 View from Selinger's back deck.

 One of many cut-throat games of cribbage!  These guys play for keeps.

Dad, Mom, Lynne, Brian, Kathy and Duke

One side note.  The morning after we arrived in Vernon, Brian received a phone call from his sister letting him know that his father had passed away in Regina, Saskatchewan.  We were concerned about being there during such a tender time for him and suggested that we should head back home so that they could make plans and book flights.  He and Lynne were so gracious in telling us that they wanted us to stay.  Thanks so much for a lovely couple of days.

Three generations of Ursaki men

Left to right: Harold Michael Ursaki, Michael David Ursaki and Matthew Michael Ursaki. 

Harold is the six of seven children and fourth son of Heinrich and Otillie.  Michael is the third and youngest child of Harold and Barbara (Bullock).  Matthew is the fourth and youngest child of Michael and Lucia (Sdao). 

 Michael is the youngest of the seventeen grandchildren of Heinrich and Otillie and the only grandson who has the Ursaki last name.  His son, Matthew, is the youngest of the thirteen grandchildren born to Harold and Barbara and also the only grandson who has the Ursaki last name.

So the question is, Matthew, are you feeling the heat?

By the way, this post is actually being written by Sandra Ursaki Hale, Mike's older sister and guest writer for today.  I was just up visiting my family in the Vancouver, B.C. area (I live in Utah) and I took the following photos of my brother in his awesome garden.  Beyond the the family, faith and good friends that he loves, gardening, building, reading, writing, classic autos and classic rock music are his passions.  He can add whatever he wants to that list!  He doesn't love to have his picture taken and loves, even less, looking at photos of himself but I think he's a handsome guy and since he won't post photos of himself (his profile photo for his never- used Facebook account was a snarling dog), I'm going to post some so that you can get to know the originator of this blog. And that, my dear brother, is what you get for giving me the password into this blog!

 Mike grew some amazing pumpkins this year . . . nine of them to be exact.

 His sunflowers grew crazy tall.  Mike is 6'4" and his reach takes him up to about eight feet.  Those are some tall flowers.

That flower has to be the size of a dinner plate!  

May 18, 1919  Henry and Otillie's wedding day

This story has a beginning and a middle, but no end. It's hard to say whether we're starting at the beginning or the middle, but since we have to start somewhere, we'll start with Heinrich and Ottilie. I guess that puts us in the middle, for there were countless generations of our forefathers (and mothers) who lived and died on this earth whose blood flows in our veins, because we are the posterity of Heinrich and Ottilie.