BLB Families

For me, my brothers and my cousins, the descendants of Bion and Wilma Bates are the central unifying factor in our lives. Perhaps even more so for my brothers and cousins, since unlike most of them I did not graduate from the University of Michigan, and never lived in Michigan after college, so my wife and I rarely attended the frequent UofM football game tailgate gatherings.

In our early years, before the tailgate culture prevailed, our grandparents drew the family together for an annual reunion at their Ovid home for the 4th of July. (This was at the house originally built by my great grandfather, Chester Jackson, funded by the sale of British Virgin Islands stamps, a story told elsewhere. At the 4th of July gathering in 1968 I introduced my then-future wife, Patricia, to the assembled clan, a ritual other potential spouses had to endure.)

And then there have been the weddings and other excuses to get together.

This photo collection documents them all.