A Family Gathering

On Saturday, I went to Buckman for a surprise 80th birthday party for Girlie's son Joe. 

Skip this part if you already know it ☺:
PAUL HESCH (1846-1900) had 13 kids, one of whom was
JOHN HESCH (1878-1926), who had five kids, one of whom was
Mary GIRLIE BLOCK (1903-1989), who had eight kids, one of whom was
Harvey JOE, who was born in 1931...ok?


I was invited not because Joe and I are close (we only met last fall when I asked him if he was a Popp) but because I'm the genealogy nut in the family now.  THAT pleases me like crazy, partly because I DO know who married Frances Braun and where they lived (fer instance), and partly because of the wonderful stories people tell me about the family's past, like this:


Chatting with Joe's sister Doreen, she recalled how harvesting was done round robin, where a group of neighbors threshed at one farm after another till all their fields were done.  She remembered the crew in 1937 included "Mickel" (my dad!).  She said it had to be '37 cuz she was about 11 that year.  She was really impressed and horrified by a bet he won:  In the field, someone found a nest of newborn field mice, and dared dad to eat them....and....ack!...he did.  He was 24, really cute and full of the devil.  
How else would we have this precious story if I didn't go to birthday parties??
BTW, yes, I googled "baby field mice" but those photos are WAY too real for this post, trust me.