It is amazing

I marvel at the sight of five couples standing before the packed event hall last afternoon being presented, "Celebrating Their Fiftieth Anniversaries".
They all met while their children were in school.
For years now they have been close, even gone on trips together, and this year, discovered they have the year of their wedding in common, they decided to throw a huge party together.
I am included as a guest,  as a Berns family member.  I met Joe and Jeanne in 1973, forty years ago.

Jim, the fourth  of the five Berns children of  Vera and Joseph Berns, Sr,  brought me into their large family of cousins, aunts and uncles.  Dad Berns had a lot of sisters, with their "real" names, and their nicknames(hard to learn them all) and neighbors and friends visiting for grill outs at his pool in the backyard.  Dad's Mom would come to visit, she was Mom Berns, and it was a long time before Grandma Vera let anyone call her that.

I am sitting next to Jack at table 33.  "Would you believe Grandpa's family would end up like this?"

I watch Joe present his children, his grandchildren.  No, it is multi-racial.  Terry adopted Chad and Derrick, and she also parented Jennifer who married across racial lines.  Of course, our family is multi-cultural.  I think of Grandma Vera.  I believe she saw the world with  an open mind.  She was accepting where sometimes I think Grandpa was close-minded.

When I entered the Berns Family they were welcoming and became my family.  I felt part of a clan for many years.  My various trans-cluttered, and mixed family was accepted and included.  What made children not fit in, was that they did not look like their other family members.

Joe and Jeanne have still helped and supported this family, in spite of the separation and the divorce between Jim and me, after thirty years of marriage.
 I separated myself from my Berns family.  After all it is his family.

Still I was included in invitations, but did not go.  Jim was also bringing dates.

I did attend this amazing event honoring Joe and Jeanne.  They are a treasure.

Head of the Joseph Berns Family Clan,  Joe and Jeanne have built their own company from the ground up with their own inventions and patents.  They have a group of employees and a fine factory.  They help their family.  They are active in church.
They have always been kind to me, in spite of what went on between his brother and I.


They are a treasure to their family, to their church, to their business family, and to our country.  People should have more models like Joe and Jeanne  as an example  for our children and our country.

Joe does not speak very loud.  He did not receive thunderous applause.  His actions speak louder than his words.