Belly of Texas Trip

My Uncle Eli died this past Saturday, and his funeral was held in Nederland, TX on Tuesday afternoon. Uncle Eli was a godly man and lived a good life and died peacefully - all that a person could ask for. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him. There was no way I was going to miss his funeral and seeing my cousins, aunts, and uncle. So, I picked up my mom and brother in WF and drove across the belly of Texas early Tuesday morning. Although the drive was long (7 hours), it was made shorter and better by being with my brother, Pete. We laughed our way across Texas.I drove the entire way down there while he rode shotgun and navigated.

Seeing my cousins was all that I knew it would be - good Barker fun!  There is a whole slew of us cousins. We don't gather often, but when we do, it is crazy fun. We don't even know some of the Ohio cousins very well, but we love each other and enjoy being together. It is rather difficult to herd Barkers and get a group shot with all the craziness going on,
 but it can be done.
Here is the older generations.
Here is the younger generation. 

My Uncle Bob, the baby of five Barker children, is the only one left of that generation. I hope he lives a good long while. I think I will be devastated when he passes. This is a Uncle Bobby with Uncle Eli's wife, Aunt Daphne. Aunt Daphne and Uncle Eli had 68 years of marriage - pretty awesome. 

 Not nearly all of us Barker cousins were able to be there for the funeral - it was just too far of a drive, and it was in the middle of the week. Next month there is a wedding and I will get to see more of my cousins. The drive will not be so far, but I would still drive across the belly of Texas to see this group.