The weekend of July 21 - 23 will be a busy time for the Weaver family. Weaver's will be coming to Lancaster County, PA from as far away as New England, Florida, the Midwest, and the West Coast of these United States for a grand reunion. The highlight of the weekend will be a dinner at the Quality Inn at Lancaster, PA. There will be 31 adults and 10 children enjoying the occasion. Only my grandson and three of my nephews will be missing. We are sorry that they cannot attend.

On Saturday morning we will again convene at one of the homes for a brunch. Then we will spend the day doing various things. Some will be going to Dutch Wonderland, a local theme park with their kids. Others will be visiting, and/or resting. On Sunday, everyone will be returning to their homes to resume a normal life. (Things are never very normal when the Weaver's get together.) The only other reunion that we had since Daddy died on April 30, 1991 was in July of 2002. At that time everyone gathered for a dinner at our Oaks Condominium clubhouse. We also spent an evening at the Woodcrest campground in the Ephrata Mountains. It is a wonderrful facility that was built by the Ephrata Mennonite Church, the church of our childhood.

Lancaster County is the place of our birth. It is the place where roots run deep in the soil of our heritage. We came from sturdy German stock. All of our ancestors came from Cantons Zurich and Berne in Switzerland. They migrated through the Rhineland in Germany and eventually settled in what is now Lancaster County, PA. They were a quiet, peaceful folk. As members of the Mennonite faith, they lived a simple life, content to weave their cloth, farm the fields that they carved out of the wilderness, and build their homes and meeting houses. Many of the men were ordained as bishops, ministers, and deacons in the Mennonite Church. Those positions were unsalaried and all of them had other occupations to support themselves and their families. Other occupations included distillers, carpenters, and even wheelwrights. My great-great grandfather, Gideon Weber was a wheelwright who built Conestoga Wagons.

In this high speed age, as we move from technolgy to technology, it is good that we stop and reflect on those who came before us; those who were willing to die for their faith; those who settled this wonderful place we call home. After all, our time here on this blue marble is short, and we need to sometimes draw back and look on those things which are lasting in the grand fabric we are all weaving. May it have the beauty and strength to survive all the stresses by which it is tested.

I found a poem by Alexander Pope that paints a word picture of the simple path that our ancestors followed. May we sometimes slow our mad dash to success and think on these things. I leave you with this little gem.

1989 photo of my father (center), J. Landis Weaver and his Children from left to right, John, Ron, Donna, Arvilla, Jay, and Elizabeth. 17 years later, we all look a bit older.

The Quiet Life

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mix'd; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

Alexander Pope