Happy Independence Day

 We all marched in the Fourth of July parade on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. July 4, 1992

Nick and the kids are all Mayflower descendants.

I have a lot of cousins

 My cousins, John Thompsen and his husband Julian , and Susan Thompsen West, John's sister, were here-  for a nice visit.    They were here to attend a wedding- their nephew- son of their brother Jim Thompsen.    Since Jim and his wife, Karen were the parents of the groom, they did not stay here.  

We did have a chance to visit with the three sibling, cousins.  Their father was my father's younger brother.   It's so funny to share genes with the people and also share memories.  We have not seen then very often, and usually not for a long time.  But we have all known each other all of our lives.  

Thompsen cousins:  Carol, Nancy (me) John, Susan and Jim

My father was one of five sons. My mother was also one of five, three sons and two daughters.   In my dad's family there were:

Erling and Katherine who had two sons and a daughter.   

Ralph and Grace who had 3 daughters

Theodore (Ted) & Ruth- my parents, who had two daughters and one son

Norris and Alice (parents of Susan, John and Jim)- a daughter and two sons

Jim and Francelle  had two daughters/

On my dad's side- the Thompsens, there were 14 grandchildren.  That means 10 cousins for my sister, brother and myself.

The five Thompsen sons died in the same order they were born:

My mom's family name was Rivers.  

George & Eunice had two sons and one daughter

Ruth & Ted (my parents) had two daughters and one son

John (Bud) and Joyce had two daughters

Norman and Joanne had two daughters and one son

Geraldine and John had five children, four daughters and one son.

George, Ruth & Norman are dead.

On my mom's side there were 15 grandchildren, so I have 12 cousins on the Rivers side.

So, all together I have 22 first cousins.    All but two of my first cousins have their own children.

And so it goes.  

Nick, who is interested in genealogy, gets overwhelmed by my family.  He had three cousins who he never really got to know, and one of them is dead.   

My own children don't have many cousins.  Jim and Tom who were 8 and 10 years old when I had my first baby.   Kathy who is an only child and is a few months younger than Morgan.    Molly, another only child, who is three weeks older than Austin.    

We have 5 adult children.  We don't have any grandchildren and I don't know if we ever will.    What I grew up with, which seemed "normal" is not the normal I expected.  But life is good.   

We took this picture last year, but it's still a great picture. 
We refer to is as our "radish anniversary"

Great Anniversary

The build up to this day has had me experiencing all sorts of feelings.   Part of me wanted to have a huge celebration/party.  Then I would think of how stressful that could be.  I was thinking that the kids should be here.  But, they were not at our wedding, so there's that.  And the hassle for all of them to even try to get here or do something.  I know that they all love us and I know that  they don't have to prove it.

We got cards, gifts, flowers and emails from all over.  We were taken to dinner.  Got to reminisce with cousins we have not seen in years.  

We love each other.  Yup, that's still there.  We have been through a lot together.  Losses, disappointments and fights.   But when it comes down to it, we really like each other.  We enjoy each other.   We really love each other.

That's as good as it gets!!

June 24, 1972

 

Fifty years of marriage and we are still smiling

 

Eight years ago I had brain surgery (the first one anyway)

 It's been eight years.  Hard to believe it ever happened at all.

This is what my sister wrote on Facebook

Carol Thompsen Hestvik

podoserntSJ0ein231752h6740m 8lu1 ,0401u5m1  · 

We (my sister, her husband and their daughter from Oregon) are all tucked in for the night at the Best western in Baltimore....clocks set for 4;15 a.m. for brain tumor surgery.....its hard to believe it is here....we have to be at Hopkins by 5.....hope all goes well and she will have a good recovery...

Got a bunch of staples in my head

Dale- it's been 21 years

  

Washington post

 

June 15, 2001

Dale Alan Thompsen

Safeway Employee

Dale Alan Thompsen, 51, a Silver Spring resident and 33-year Safeway employee, died at a hospital in Baltimore June 15 from injuries he had received that day in a traffic accident in Laytonsville.

A spokesman for the Montgomery County police said Mr. Thompsen was riding his 2001 Harley-Davidson Classic motorcycle northbound on Route 108 when he collided with a Ford Taurus driven by a 21-year old Laytonsville woman who was pulling out of the Laytons Village Shopping Center shortly after 8 a.m. Police said that it appeared that the car driver had failed to yield the right-of-way.

Mr. Thompsen, an Oregon native, came to the Washington area in 1961 and graduated from Northwood High School in Silver Spring in 1968.

He had worked for Safeway mainly in Northern Virginia and was a night stocker in its Burke store at the time of his death.

Over the years, he had participated in motorcycle rallies, including the Memorial Day Rolling Thunder rally in Washington this year. He was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Rebos Club, and had received awards for aiding alcoholics.

His marriage to Janet Thompsen ended in divorce.

Survivors include his daughter, Molly Thompsen of Burke; his mother, Ruth Naumowicz of Silver Spring; and two sisters, Carol Hestvik of Ellicott City and Nancy Sherwood of Reston