Growing up a Bixby never really meant much to me. At a younger age I felt like an outsider being adopted into the Bixby family by my father. Yes I say father despite the lack of a biological connection because as I've aged I've also educated myself. I can honestly say that NO other man could have done for me what he has. It's not just what he has done for me but who he has been for my family and my mother. She could not have found a better man to stand beside her. It takes one look around at a Bixby reunion to know that I'm the odd one of the bunch. I've lived my life to different beat. Despite all of our differences though I rarely feel like an outsider.
Perhaps I say this now because I see the similarities between my father and I. I also now realize the similarities he and Grandaden share. I see it is a trait or lesson learned or passed down from one to the other, so subtly it could almost be called osmosis. A lesson about trust, respect, compassion, empathy, humility, and love. About being a family despite differences and disputes.
While I was in high school and after more then 50 years of marriage Gramma woke Grandaden one night to tell him that she loved him, their family and their life together and then passed in his arms as he waited. She was an amazing women and I wish only that we could have had much more time with her. She taught me the most important key to happiness; One day she pulled me aside while we were making her super special chocolate chip walnut cookies. Even back then it was noticeable that I was different from the rest of the Bixbys. She told me she didn't care what I did with my life as long as I did the best I could at everything I would do. Grandaden never remarried. Instead when Carl Bixby passed during the winter I spent in Chile he had survived Edith Kenyon by living for more than decade after her passing.
Of all the great lessons Gramma and Grandaden taught me, the greatest was the enormous power that a strong family has to flourish, grow, and support eachother.
Being A Bixby
She rode with the Guachos,
And inspired a passion for persistant perfection.
He dreamed of sailing seas,
And taught dedication to daily duties.
Together their garden bloomed with love,
And cultivated a tree stronder then any storm,
Heartier then any festive feast
That they themselves prepared,
And more bountiful then the falls dire harvest.
For generations that follow
I know I'll swallow
And savor like a fine wine
The love and acceptance of a family divine.
Together afain her, his whole.
Find the tide that takes you back to her ride.
It's meant the world that we yet to unfold.
Thank you Gramma and Grandaden. I'm trying.
adam
