Tom Meisinger sent this in a few days ago…
Growing up in the Land of Michael Jordan I always felt like something was missing during childhood. I finally figured it out during high school attending holiday parties with my sweetheart. You see, when my Grandpa Edgar and Grandma Margie left Jefferson City, Missouri embarking for soy-smelly Decatur, Illinois, they also left behind roots. Ya know, like a tree…or that band that plays on the Jimmy Fallon show.
In 2010, I was fortunate enough to be offered a job during the Great Recession. Unfortunately, it was 600 miles from mommy and daddy. Completely alone in a brand new place where I literally knew no one, I began self-improvement step one. I found out what was important in my life. Although I wasn’t born or raised in Missouri, it’s where I have roots. That’s why when I wanted to relocate in 2012 I chose an area where family already lived.
My job search and interviews only existed in the St. Louis area. During one of these mini-vacations I took Uncle Vernon out to dinner at a Chinese buffet. When the lady passed out the fortune cookies, I was disappointed to open mine and find it completely empty. Uncle Vernon pushed his fortune across the table that read, “You are a person that will go places in life.” He looked at me and said, “This must be for you, I’ve already been everywhere.”
As I think back on 2012, I started realizing my favorite memories involved the Sommerer family. Thanks to Lloyd Jr., some of you may have read about them on the website you are currently reading this. Others may contact each other daily with the help of Facebook. Technology has connected our family in a way Adolf and Theresa would have never imagined. Even though our family is scattered everywhere, we can come together.
If it wasn’t for your participation, I wouldn’t have been able to show Grandma Margie two videos on Christmas morning. The first was of Aunt Beatrice and Aunt Cleo singing “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”. The second was of four-year old Ophelia Folkemer discovering a Power Wheel’s Ford Mustang in her garage. In fact, because of the internet I was aware of many important Sommerer events before my Grandma which was shocking because she talks…a lot. Way more than I do, I swear.
I was fortunate to not only make it to the reunion at Heit’s Point, but also Heidi’s baby shower which included good food, cold beer, and a little bit of heavy labor (no pun intended) moving a piano. Even though I was the only member of my immediate family present, I felt at home. It was then I understood the meaning of the song, “Lonely Fortunes” by my favorite group, the Ozarks very own Ha Ha Tonka. The lyrics talk about how not every reward in life is monetary. Like holding the newest baby in the family, getting brotherly advice from an older cousin, or learning your fortune from an 85-year old farm boy instead of Confucius-in-a-cookie. It makes me wonder what 2013 will bring, especially being a person “who will go places”.