Rhode Island, Part 3

More pictures:

My cousin Deirdre met up with us Thursday to go to Block Island!

Deirdre is my mom's sister's youngest daughter, and Deirdre and I are kindred spirits. We may not talk for a year or get to see each other for two, but when we're together, it's like no time has passed. We have such a strong connection and I know we always will! I adore her and wish we lived closer, but it's always one of the highlights of my year when I get to see her.

on the ferry to Block Island

My mom's mother worked at the Spring House (pictured below) in Block Island during the summers in college. This was a very special place, because my grandfather followed her there one summer (without her permission) and they dated there one summer. Neither my mom nor her sisters had ever been there, so my aunts met us there and they all got to see it together for the first time! The neatest thing happened while they were there...
Their mother (my grammie), died of breast cancer when my mom was just 25 years old. She was an incredible mother and her presence is still very strong in all of our lives. I think about her often, even though she died before I was born, and my mom says that not a day goes by that she doesn't think about her. When I'm with my aunts, they always remind me of how much I look like her. Anyways, when we arrived at the Spring House where she worked, we all just took in the fact that she spent so much time there and had walked where we were walking many times. We all went inside and Elizabeth spotted a picture on the wall. This was a picture celebrating 140 years of this hotel and had a few old photos on it. The ONE picture of one of the staffs who worked there was from one of the years my grammie worked there! Elizabeth scanned the photo, and there she was! Everyone was so excited to get to see that! How crazy that the one staff photo on the wall included her in it!! Then, we walked outside, and my mom smelled Shalimar, her old perfume! I walked over and smelled it, too, and there was no one around us at the time. It was very strong, and we knew that she was there with us.





(She's in the center, second from the left in the black outfit)

My mom sent me this picture of her.


Our Rhode Island trip ended in our Gray Family Reunion! The Gray's are my mom's mom's side of the family, and I adore this side. They mean so much to me, and some of my best memories in life are with these people. Just as with my relationship with Deirdre, we are all strongly connected, and no matter the distance, they are a huge part of my life.

The entire Gray family (started with my Great Grandma Gray and Great Grandpa Harry-my grammie's parents) I actually have a memory of going to my Great Grandma Gray's 90th birthday party when I was 4 years old (24 years ago!), and I feel so blessed to have that memory, since I have no memory of 3 of my 4 grandparents!


The Sullivan contingent


All of the great-grandchildren