Newman-Moore

                                             EVELYN HARRIET NEWMAN FERO

                                                                31 July 1998

                            Family cottage on Van Ettan Lake near Oscoda (Iosco Co)  MI

           Friday, July 31, 1998 was a warm and breezy day in northeastern lower Michigan.   Mom's immediate family was gathering at the cabin to place her ashes next to those of her younger brother Robert.   She had died in Austin TX on February 18, 1998.    Son Patrick Dennis and family were coming north from Tecumseh as were husband Barnard Strong Fero and 3rd son Timothy David.   Son Michael Barnard (2nd) was coming south from the Straits of Mackinaw.

           All were to converge at the cabin near the noon hour.           

           Mike arrived first shortly before 11 a.m.   It was a fine Michigan summer day with the temperature hovering at 80° F. and a warm sun bathing the lake in brightness.    The lake water was warm and a stiff west wind was whipping up whitecaps across the lake.   This was the kind of day we all wished for in past times when we would converge on the cabin for vacations and weekends.

           Dad and Tim arrived next, followed by Pat's family.    It was shortly after the noon hour when we gathered in front of the cabin on the bluff overlooking the lake. Those present were Dad, Tim, Mike, friend Dave Shrader, Pat and wife Mary Jo, their children Michael and Michelle, Michael's wife Cynthia, and Michelle's daughter Erin.           

           Dad held the urn and a container of soil gathered from places the family lived -- Texas, Tecumseh, Colorado, and Pennsylvania.   Tim dug a shallow depression to the south of Uncle Bob's spot between two prominent trees right at the lip of the bluff and directly in front of the cabin.  Dad placed the ashes in the and each family member who wished to said a few words and placed soil in the spot.            

           After, we gathered inside the cabin for a few moments and talked about Mom and her life and shared some of the events we recalled and feelings we had.    Then, one by one, we left this spot and headed back toward our separate destinations, forever connected by this place and the resting place of a remarkable woman.

                                                 written by

                                           MICHAEL BARNARD FERO

                                          Lakewood Colorado

                                           Thanksgiving 2002