Amos an Allie were married over sixty years. Amos and I became great friends from the moment we first met. Amos taught me how to play "42". His sister was married to Allie's brother and another of her brothers was married to to another of Amos' sisters. The children of each of the three marriages were cousins to each other but had more "blood relationship" than a "normal cousin" They all looked like brothers and sisters and referred to themselves as double first cousins.
In the mid 1930's the three couples, their parents and children began meeting for an annual family gathering near the small hamlet of Abbot, Texas, home of Willie Nelson. (my father in law, George, attended elementary school with Willie). Within a few years, the gathering became so large that they relocated to a small campground/picnic area near Navarro Mills, Texas. The children of the three families were growing older and starting families of their own. They would invite others to attend the gathering and within a few more years, Navarro Mills could no longer accommodate the crowd. The new location for the annual reunion was at Cameron Park in nearby Waco. At 470 acres it is one of the largest city parks in the State of Texas.
Through the years the attendance steadily increased. Eventually more than a thousand people would attend the Cottongame/Sellers reunion at Cameron Park on the first Sunday after Mother's Day. People would drive to Waco from all directions. They would brings cakes, pies, cookies, covered dishes, fried chicken, ham, salads, tea, sodas, chips and dips and many more wonderful delicacies. There were several generations of people. Of course the big event was the arrival of new members of the family. Each child, grandchild, great grandchild would be paraded and passed around by their parents and proud grandparents. Volley ball nets were set up for heated contests. Holes were dug for games of washers held along side several games of horseshoes. The sounds of children playing, old women cackling, dominoes rattling as they were being "washed" and hearty laughter and Texas "Bullshit Tales" from old men flowed in the breeze blowing through the pecan and oak trees as well as the rooms of the clubhouse that was perched on top of a hill overlooking the mighty Brazos River (which was accessible from a stepped walkway known as Jacobs Ladder). After an hour or so after "lunch" the "game" was played. The game was a softball game held in an adjacent field between members of the two original families. Most participants were not too sure as to which family they belonged to. In the end it really did not make a difference. The game was the culmination of the reunion. Around 3 or 4 in the afternoon the game was over and most people had "headed" back to Cleburne, Gatesville, Everman, Kennedale, Corsicana, Fort Worth and other places left, thinking about returning the following year.
My first trip to the reunion was in 1973 with my girlfriend, her brother and her parents. We left their home in Cedar Grove early on Sunday morning. We arrived in Waco around 10 or so. As we were exiting their dark green LTD The Plaintiff's aunt Georgie Mae quickly moved to our car with a hand made wedding dress in her arms. To be honest, I had never thought about the possibility that I would one day be married to The Plaintiff. We had been dating only a few weeks. The wedding dress was a shock but for some strange reason, I was truly "drawn" to this strange family because of it's reunion...
For the reunion of 1977 we drove our new metallic red Monte Carlo up Highway 6 from Houston to Waco. In the back seat rode our eight month old red headed daughter, The Prodigy. As we drove up the hill and was approaching the clubhouse at Cameron Park, I witnessed a sight I shall always remember. My father in law was literally running across the spacious lawn towards our car. I stopped and rolled the window down to say hello and ask him where a good parking spot was located. He gave no reply. He simply opened the passenger door of my car and extracted my infant child. I parked in front of the adjacent baseball field.. No "hello daughter or son in law". Then he gleefully shouted as he held the red headed infant up and said "see" Junior she has the Sellers/Cottongame hair". He was smiling from ear to ear but there were tears of joy in his eyes. There was an old woman who would attend each year named Aunt Mena. She would always bring two pies. One for the reunion and one for her two favorite nephews. George and Junior. One year I along with George's son Dennis and Junior's son Randy hid and later ate both pies. George and Junior did not think our prank was funny.
In May 1984, the day before the annual family reunion at Cameron Park, "Cousin Randy" was involved in a freak accident and he died. It put a real damper on the reunion and as a result only a handful attended the event. We attended the following year and The Prodigy actually invited one of her school friends to attend the event. I would be my last Waco Reunion. A year later I was separated from The Plaintiff and we eventually divorced. After Junior's son died, as well as most of the original "brothers and sisters", the annual event had fewer and fewer people attending and once again the event was held a Navarro Mills and finally not at all...
A tradition had died. But it shall forever remain in my heart as a fond memory.
Last year I had the good fortune to be invited to attend a college football game between Texas A&M and Baylor Universities. Once again I was in Waco with my oldest daughter. It had been over 25 years.
We had plenty of time so I drove into Cameron Park and revisited many familiar places. As we drove up on the hill we saw the refurbished "club house". We marveled at the spacious lawn where we once played many heated games of volleyball, washers and horseshoes. I stopped the car in the exact same place I had done that day my father in law kidnapped his granddaughter. Tear filled my eyes as I recounted the story to her and her husband. "Dad I do not remember it, I was only 8 months old. The field were "the game" was held was now a garden of Texas wild flower and fauna. At a location close to where the pitchers mound was stands a expansive pool of water with water fountains. The old "backstop" has been replaced with large cement columns resembling Roman or Greek architecture. Engrave on a cement wall is the new name of the field Miss Nellies Pretty Place. I do not know who Miss Nellies is or was. Perhaps she was one of those wonderful people who would gather once a year for the reunion.
I realize that as time passes thing obviously change. Many of those people who gathered for that reunion have gone on to "Gloryland" I am no longer a member of that family and other than my daughter Jennifer I probably shall never any of those people again. I also realize one can never truly go back to what once was. Forums such as this blog at least gives me the time to reflect on those wonderful times.
Those pies were good...
Cousin The Third
