Family

I'm really blessed, as Jude's extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) are such wonderful people. Her mother, Jane, has two sisters, one older and one younger. Jude has seven cousins on her mother's side of the family. Her father, Jim, is the oldest of five children. Jude has ten cousins on her father's side of the family. Interestingly, she's the oldest of all seventeen cousins.

The family is spread out (St. Louis, Cincinnati, New York City, New Orleans, Houma, LA, Atlanta, San Francisco, Charlotte, NC, Birmingham, AL, Wichita, KS and Nashville). It's a close knit family, on both sides, although we don't get to see everyone as much as we would like.

This morning, Ann and David Walker and their son, David, stopped by the house to see John Patrick. Ann Walker is Jude's aunt, her father's youngest sister. Young David graduated from Duke University a little more than a year ago and his sister, Margaret, is a rising senior at Tulane University. Ann and David Walker relocated to Wichita, KS, a couple of years ago, when David took a new job. Young David is joining them there, when he starts work in a couple of weeks.

It was great to see Ann, David and David and to spend a little time with them. Ann and David are truly two of the nicest people I've ever met (aside from David being a Vanderbilt fan). Long before Jude was pregnant with John Patrick, she and I had remarked on more than one occasion that if we ever were fortunate enough to have a child, we hoped he or she would grow up to be like David or Margaret, Ann and David's children. We still feel that way.