The Oakley's are my grandmother Cordie's clan on my mother's side.  Mostly Vernons (my grandfather's side) attend, but tradition is such in the south that it is referred to as The Oakley Family reunion.  I can remember attending them as a small child with picnic table after picnic table of down-home cooking:  okra, fried chicken, waldorf salad, biscuits, green beans, ham, wonderful deserts, pitchers of sweet tea, and so much love. 

Grandma Cordie was quite the matriarch.  At six feet tall, with broad shoulders, a gruff disposition at times and chewing snuff, mom-mom, as her yankee grandchildren called her, was quite the presence.  I loved that woman so much and  I miss her dearly.

Cordie and DeWitt Otto Vernon (pop-pop to my siblings and I) had seven children, raised them in a four room house with little money but with a great deal of integrity.  The women of the family for the most part are loud, and gregarious, and full of life.  The men are quieter with a dry sense of humor and a rebelious streak.  Most are Southern Baptists, and while my lifestyle may go against some of their beliefs, I always feel welcomed and loved.   To me, that says it all....they are good people.

The reunion is smaller in numbers then those of  my childhood; times change I suppose.  There is a prayer by Uncle Tom or my cousin Jim, an auction by my cousins Ricky and Becky, an accounting of monies and minutes by Linda, and of course, a lot of good food and old stories.

The two pictures in the last row are of the four room house that Cordie and Pop-Pop raised their family.