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There is an old photograph hanging on our living room wall that was taken 65 years ago at a state park in southern Indiana. The occasion was the annual Riley family reunion.

Family members had gathered from Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio to share laughter, memories and the joy of that bond that families share — the special relationship that family members have with one another.

My great-grandfather, Alfred (Pap) Riley, was there. Everyone wanted some personal time with Pap. He was undeniably the head of the Riley Clan.

My Dad’s branch of the Riley family had started in Breathitt County, Kentucky and spread north to southwest Ohio. All of us were descendants of that old man with the handlebar moustache – Pap Riley.

Part of the legend of Pap Riley, is that at 80 years old, he could stand flat-footed beside a fence, place one hand on a fence post and jump over the fence. To call Pap Riley a wiry old man would be a gross understatement.

Pap Riley was born in 1867, just a few years after the end of the Civil War. He was not quite 10 years old when George Armstrong Custer died with all his men at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Butch Cassidy was only one year older than Pap Riley. Butch was born in 1866.

It boggles my mind that my great-grandfather, Pap Riley, was old enough to have been a member of Butch Cassidy’s Hole-in-the-Wall-Gang.

Despite all the world history and family history that happened since Pap’s birth, I have that old photo taken at a family reunion that has four generations of Riley’s from Pap to Randy Riley. The photo depicts the oldest-son of the oldest-son of the oldest-son.

It also helps bring our family history to life. It makes it real for me today.

Years later, at a family reunion in Breathitt County, not far from Pap’s birthplace, we took another four-generations picture. This one included my Dad, me, my son Josh and his daughter, Danni Grace.

We have the two photographs matted together in one frame. The family history contained in those two pictures dates from 1867 to today – 2017. That is 150 years of Riley family history contained in two, simple, family reunion photographs.

Family reunions are important. We need to cherish our family histories and our time together.

This past weekend, we had planned to enjoy a Riley Family gathering at Cowan Lake. We did, but it was miserably hot and humid. My brother, Jeff and his wife Lisa, flew in from Arizona to join the gathering. Besides the kids, they were only ones not complaining about the heat.

Just sitting around the picnic table playing cards was a hot, sweaty proposal. The adults kept finding excuses to duck into the air-conditioned cabins for a quick break from the heat, but somehow the children could ignore the heat and humidity.

They laughed as they chased each other around the playground, running and riding bikes for hours without a complaint. There was beauty and joy in the bonds the next generation developed.

My Mom and Dad are now pushing 90 years old. They didn’t spend the entire weekend at the lake, but they joined us for a no-holds-barred Mexican dinner on Saturday evening.

As usual, there was enough food to feed the entire campground. We ate. We laughed. We teased. We sweated. We tried to keep track of those amazing grandkids. Keeping track of them caused us to sweat some more.

It was a typical family gathering with lots of love and laughter. It was precious time spent with precious people, some of whom are now gone. Pap Riley died in 1960. Grandpa Riley died in 1964. Thank goodness, Dad is still doing well and bringing smiles to the faces of his great-grandchildren. We have several pictures from this past weekend, but I don’t think we have enough.

There are never too many pictures from a family reunion.

My grandchildren have always called me Pappy. I hope to live long enough to have great-grandchildren. I hope to have several four-generation pictures of Pappy Riley with my kids, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Somewhere in the future, I hope that there are pictures hanging on walls that continue to celebrate our ongoing Riley family history. I hope they include copies of that picture with Pap Riley and me when I was only two years old.

I hope our photographic family history will cover several hundred years and the many blessings that families can provide.

Whenever you get together with family and friends, take lots of pictures.

Those pictures will eventually become your record of who you are.

Randy Riley is President of Council of Wilmington.

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Randy Riley

Contributing columnist

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