Five Brothers Together

Last night, the five Greenwalt brothers were gathered together for the first time in 35 years. 

There were six boys and one girl born in our family.  Our oldest brother, Truett, died of cancer at the young age of 55 back in 1997.  So, there were five Greenwalt boys (now wise old men?) who got together for dinner on Wednesday evening, January 19.

Here is a picture of us, from oldest to youngest:  David, Galen, Noel, John and Roger.

Noel flew out last weekend from Missouri for some tests at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.  His wife Janice and son Mark accompanied him.  I drove to Phoenix on Tuesday morning, picked them up and brought them back to Rialto that evening.  It's about 320 miles each way, and the trip is about a 5-hour drive each way (all on Interstate 10).  The drive was enjoyable, as we were talking all the way.  (I will take them back to Phoenix on Friday, for their return flight home to Sprinfield, Missouri.)

Since David lives here in Rialto with us, and Roger lives only 5 miles away in Fontana, we only needed John here to have all five brothers together.  After calling John, he drove down from his Taft home (near Bakersfield), about three hours north.  He arrived around 2 pm yesterday.

Sondra barbecued steaks, and we had dinner for twelve:  Galen and Sondra, David, Noel and Janice and Mark, John, Roger and Julie and daughter Jennifer and Jennifer's friend Cassondra, and our friend George Nelson.  George has met the entire family in the last several years.

We sat and talked and laughed and talked and laughed.  Stories were told and retold.  It was an evening of pure joy and great memories.  We called mom in Shawnee, and she shared in our time for a brief moments.  We wished she and our sister Marti could have been here for a quick family reunion of sorts.  All in all, it was a blessed night.