“For thirty years, Mom told everyone I was ‘studying abroad in Arizona,’” Robert said, strumming a minor chord. “I was in a juvenile detention center for stealing a tractor.”
“You have to let it go. The only thing that matters is showing up. That, and my potato salad. It’s really good.” karla nelson family reunion
The centerpiece, however, is the . As dusk falls, a bonfire is lit. The alcohol flows freely (a strict “No Hard Liquor, Only Karla’s Famous Spiked Lemonade” rule). This is where the family’s oral history lives and breathes. “For thirty years, Mom told everyone I was
When asked the secret to keeping a family of nearly 200 people functional and loving for four decades, she didn’t talk about discipline or rules. She pointed to the banner hanging over the fire pit, a needlepoint she made herself in 1985. That, and my potato salad
This year’s theme was The official T-shirt, a bright kelly green, featured a massive family tree printed on the back. Below Karla’s name, the branches sprawled into five thick limbs for her children, then splintered into dozens of twigs for her 27 grandchildren, 52 great-grandchildren, and—as of last Tuesday—her first great-great-grandchild, Emma.