Wow! (Part 2)

Now that you've seen the photos of their beautiful home in Troy, Ohio (and trust me, the photos don't even begin to do justice to the beauty of the place), let me introduce you to the wonderful people who created it all . . .

Peggy and Ron Minnich

And the minute you meet these amazing people, you immediately feel as if you have known them for your entire life. They are warm, gracious, outgoing, and so very welcoming. They made us feel totally and completely comfortable and at home.

Yesterday evening, Ron's sister, Darlene, who happened to be in town from Cleveland where she lives, joined us and we all went out to dinner at a favorite restaurant in downtown Troy. So I got to meet 2 cousins that I've never met before. I'm so sad that it has taken our entire lives to meet, it would have been so nice to have grown up together, even if only by mail and phone calls. Guess I'll never know why Mom never chose to take us to Ohio to meet her family when we were kids.

Anyway, this morning Ron took John and I for the tour I had been hoping for - we went to all the cemeteries where my grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents, and great-great-great grandparents are buried and I was able to take photos of all the gravestones. We were in 3 different cemeteries - and we easily found all the graves. I'm not putting the headstones in this blog, but will share the photos with anyone who wants them when I get home.

One of the cemeteries is called the "Minnich Cemetery" - because it is located in approximately the center of the original Minnich farm which was purchased by Jacob Minnich, my great-great-great grandfather. The farm was originally about 200 acres, and he donated the land for the cemetery, before he sold off the rest of the farm in smaller portions.

We went to Potsdam, Ohio, to see the farm that my great-grandfather owned and where my grandfather, Jesse, grew up. We also saw the brick school house where he went to school - I have a photo of him, his brothers and sisters and his schoolmates standing in front of this school - it was a one-room brick schoolhouse and had all grades 1-12. The building is still standing, but abandoned now, and Ron says will probably be torn down in the next few years. He found a loose brick and gave it to me - how cool to have a brick from the school where my grandpa learned to read and write!

Ron also took us to Trotwood where my Mom lived until she was somewhere around 6 or 7 years old. I had a photo of the home she lived in back then, but unfortunately, no address. Ron was determined we could find the house, and we drove up and down all the streets in the older section of town, but no luck. Most likely it has been torn down. We did find what we think might be the location of the grainery that Jesse owned, so that was cool. Mom always described Trotwood as a tiny little town, so it's very apparent that it has grown a lot since then. I took a photo of the "Welcome to Trotwood" sign, but not much else, because how do you photograph a town? But it's nice to be able to say I was there.

The entire area is surrounded by farms - right now the only crop you can identify is wheat (not the amber waves of grain yet, it's still green). But soon there will be corn and beans also.

Back at Ron's house, Peggy was busy creating a delicious feast, and when we got back to the house, Ron's sister, Darlene, was there again along with their mother, Maxine, who is beautiful and vibrant at the very young age of 94! Another hero! We had a nice visit, and they posed for a photo . . .

Ron, Maxine, and Darlene

He has another sister, Joy, who lives in Florida. I hope I can meet her one day too!

The other very important member of their family is Bee-Gee . . .

This is one very spoiled and well loved dog. As you can see, she has her own special place on the sofa, complete with her own pillow. She also does the dishes after every meal - they give her the plates to lick before they put them in the dishwasher . . .

This was a really special day to me and one I will long remember . . .