52 Ancestors Week 38: Fun and Games

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 38: It's "Fun and Games" for Week 38! Are there any fun traditions in your family? (My family has "Thanksgiving craft time" after the big meal is done.) Maybe you've made an especially fun discovery or found how your ancestors spent their precious free time.

WOOOOOOOT!

    Over the years I've been blogging I've talked about many of my family's traditions. I've talked about the big Christmas eve parties, fun at the marina and Thanksgiving. There's still one or two family traditions I can talk about here and there. The well hasn't completely dried up! In between all of the holidays, we still managed to have HUGE family gettogethers on my mother's side of the family. One particular event occurred in June of 2013. It was a surprise party for my grandfather, Robert Hamel.

Robert Hamel, master of stealth

    I was thinking about him a lot in the last few days because at the time I am writing this entry it has been exactly four years since he passed away at the age of ninety-four. I can say with certainty that it hasn't been easy since he's been gone. He was the only grandfather my brother and I really, really remember. He was basically the blueprint for all other grandfathers to follow. He was just that awesome and I can say with absolute certainty that all ten of his grandchildren (including my brother and I) would agree!

    In June of 2013, it was decided by my mother and her five siblings that they should turn one of our annual family gettogethers into a surprise birthday party for their father. His ninetieth birthday was approaching and we wanted to do something special for him. Plans were made to have the party at my aunt Linda's house and it was my parents' job to pick him up at the airport and have him sleep over until the day of the event. Naturally, I helped and played it cool.

   

     The fun actually started when we picked him up at Manchester airport. My cousin and I were supposed to get him at baggage claim and when we went there.....he wasn't there! We both looked at each other like "What the heck? Where's Grandpa?" We shook our heads and went back to where our parents were and sure enough there he was waiting for us WITH EVERYONE!  I said to my cousin "We're totally gonna get him back for this."

    The next Saturday was the big day. It was his birthday and what would have been his sixty-fifth wedding anniversary. My grandmother had passed away in 2004. That didn't stop family from the Felker clan from attending! Keeping the surprise a secret was a simple task. I was talking to one of my other cousins on Facebook messenger while he watched golf on our television....with the television muted. I never figured out why he did that. Golf isn't exactly known for its boisterous fanbase. Though, it would be cool to see some of that excitement in the game. I'm not going to lie.

Ninety-four candles is a fire hazard.

   My aunts and my cousins came by that night and I talked about the party to my cousins in the kitchen while our parents and siblings were in the dining room with our grandfather. You might think it was like being sent to the kids' table and you might be right on the money. It worked out because we got down to brass tacks with limited commercial interruption from the group in the dining room. That was until my uncle cracked open a lobster and juice hit the ceiling. We still have the stain there. Nothing gets lobster juice out. NOTHING! The best part was that he thought the lobster party was his actual birthday party. Nope!

   

     We said our goodbyes and prepared for the big event the next morning.

    When I woke up, I sent some messages to my cousins and they asked if Grandpa suspected anything. Thankfully, he didn't. The event was going to be slightly formal and to keep up with the charade I had to wear a decidedly informal Boston Celtics t-shirt. I swear I felt so out of place. Nevertheless, I grabbed my camera as I wanted to film as much of the event as possible and we were on our way.

    My mother even made chicken wings for the party and my grandfather asked why she was making so many wings. Gee. I wonder where I get my curious streak from! She made some lame excuse and he totally bought it.

The grandkids (minus 2). 

    When we got to the house, I got my camera out and my grandfather asked what I was doing. My dad said "He's gonna take a picture of you." I chuckled and whispered "Nice save". My aunt opened the door and greeted him as he walked ahead of everyone. She said we were "having a picnic in the back". He walked up the steps and I was still recording. He went into the house and everyone shouted "SURPRISE!"

    And man was he surprised! I took a panoramic shot of everyone clapping and turned the camera off until it was time for cake. I wasn't about to walk around with a camcorder the whole day! I did film more clips. I was basically filming for posterity and for my brother and cousin who couldn't make it to the party.

    We did take plenty of pictures! If there's one thing my family does is take photos. Lots of photos. The only problem is that sometimes we're all looking in different directions in group shots. Luckily the one above has most of us looking in the same direction.

Psst. Can I has cake? 

    Throughout the afternoon I spent quite a lot of time talking to my cousins, my great-aunt and several of my mother's cousins.  Everyone talked about how much my grandma Natalie would have liked being there. She would have. She'd have loved the surprise party. I do wonder how she would have kept it hidden from Grandpa Bob, though. She'd have gone along with it. I just wish my brother and one of my other cousins could have been there. But, it is what it is.  At least a few of the great-grandkids were there! Needless to say he had a great time and was all smiles during his speech.

   

     Birthday parties and family gettogethers have always been a great chance to get a ton of genealogical information. You have a few laughs and talk about the things you never knew about your family. Over the years we had many and that one was the second to last party we had before he passed away in 2017. The last party we had was in 2016 when he was at my cousin's wedding.  That was a fun time. He did not know what to make of "Uptown Funk".

    It's hard to believe four years have passed since he passed away. A few more great-grandchildren were born and one great-great grandchild is on the way at the time of this blog's posting. Time may move on but the memories will last a lifetime. Parties are a great way to solidify those memories and I have plenty of them and pictures! When I got home from the party, I loaded up Ancestry for the first time in a while and made some updates based on what I learned. I smiled and said "I'll get back to you later". My genealogical adventure was about to begin anew! 

    I put the videos I took up on my Facebook and I share them whenever they show up in my Facebook memories. It's a good way to share the memories with cousins who weren't able to attend. I've even saved the videos onto my computer and a flash drive. Moments in time are now forever captured and will be cherished for years to come.

See ya next time!