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These
pages document an epic journey I took May 27,
2004 through June 15, 2004 in the company of my
Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Dean Clopton as they traced
their Nebraska/Wyoming "roots" with
their family.
I thought I was going along as
a witness to their adventure, but discovered I
was on a "roots tour" of my own.
Background
Lorraine
& Dean grew up in Keya Paha County, Nebraska,
but have lived in New Jersey/New York for more than
50 years. They raised their daughters
in Dumont, NJ, but when the nest was empty, they
moved to an apartment in Manhattan.
In 2004, they celebrated their
60th wedding anniversary and in honor of the occasion--and
as their grandsons had both recently married non-mid-westerners--they
wanted to show the entire extended family their
"roots."
And
so there were many discussions and flurries of
emails as the Clopton Clan made their plans.
Whole Big Picture
No matter how long and far away
you are from your "roots," the need
for connection with the past is always there.
The memory and experience of people, places, and
events in our history shapes who we are in our
current life. We need that touchstone to connect
who we are to who we were. For transplanted
people like us, the impulse to try to "go
home" can be very strong. Wolfe
tells us it is always unsuccessful. But still
we try.
All I can do here is record
my prosaic impressions and offer captions for
other's pictures.
The
Adventure in Capsule Form
Dean & Lorraine & I flew
from LaGuardia to Omaha and drove to Springview,
NE to see my folks and go to the Keya Paha
County High School Alumni Banquet.
From
there we drove to Casper,
WY to stay with Aunt Myrtle and visit the
Radden
relatives. Nancy flies to Casper and joins us
there and organizes an afternoon party at a local
restaurant.
Dean,
Lorraine, Nancy and I drive to Hill
City, SD and are met by Russ, Matt and Rebecca.
After
a few days of fun in the hills, Russ, Nancy, Matt
and Rebecca drive to Deadwood
for a little gambling and D&L and I drive
back to Springview,
where they drop me off and continue on to Ainsworth.
Jason and Nancy Jr, and then John, Susan and Lily
fly into Rapid City and drive to Ainsworth, where
the clan encamps at the Comfort Inn. After a few
days of intense rural activity, Dean & Lorraine
and I return to Omaha and our flight to LaGuardia,
and the rest of the clan drives back to Rapid
City to catch flights to their diverse destinations.
Well,
that's the short version, but as always, there's
more to the tale...
Lorraine
Ross Hall
January 10, 2005
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