All in the Family...

Dateline: Weekend of May 5, 2019. Place: Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Purpose: Accompany my sister Paddy on an ancestry trip that will lead to meeting our mom’s half brother and cousins that we never knew about. We don’t know them and they don’t know us. I think about my mom, Rose, contemplating how this weekend adventure will turn out.

We are in the heart of the Midwest. A little over 8,000 people in this little town. The Courthouse occupies a full block. A mix of vacant storefronts and mom and pop retail and restaurants are in the town square. Very similar to Falls City. We stop at a flower store for a gift to take to the family then head out of town about two miles to the home of John Lambert.

Ernie worked 35 years at the state prison nearby. The prison is the City and region’s biggest employer. Ernie is the husband of Kelly Manning, the daughter of John Lambert, my mom Rose’s, half-brother on her Dad’s side. Kelly is also retired from the prison. It was Kelly and Ernie’s house we were at with John having an attached apartment to the home.

John, age 81, has health issues, needs canes and wheel chair for mobility. Very articulate and cogent though. Good manners. The house looked out over a small pond, a barn and acres of trees and open space. A quintessential setting one might imagine when thinking of the midwest countryside. This is a place where they still burn their garbage and there is a riding mower in the shed.

Ernie was doing some big time grilling today. Homemade sausages and hamburgers from the local area. He had several types of sausages too. Jalapeño-cheddar, plain bratwurst, and pineapple amongst others. Asked if he was going to eat one of those “flavored” sausages, he responded, “if I’m gonna eat pineapple it’s gonna be out of a can!”

John Lambert. Retired. Said he made his living building manufacturing plants. Went all over the U.S. for work, including stints in California. His Dad left the family when John was very young, repeating the pattern that happened with my Grandma Rose. Marry, have kids and then move on. John is from Vermont. Over the years, he only met his Dad, James E. Lambert two times. I never met my Dad either but spoke to him on the telephone several times when I was in my early 20’s. Anyway, back to John. There was resentment and disappointment in his voice when he talked about his father. His mother, Ruth, had a nervous breakdown when James E left her and the kids. Apparently she had to be admitted. According to John, she was never really the same again. She never remarried.

We stayed at the Comfort Inn Suites outside of the airport near Cedar Rapids. Brand new lodging, just opened. Next to some ag land and the interstate. On Saturday morning, Paddy asked the front desk for an eating recommendation. The response was “there is an A&W close by.” Really, you are directing people to an A&W? I found this kind of odd but then thinking about it, genuine at the same time. Lots of fast food and lots of people that are on the obese side here.

John’s kids and their families came by Saturday night as well as Kelly’s kids and family. Both of John’s sons worked at the prison. I wonder about a whole town of people working at the state prison and the culture and mindset that might create for the town. Inside the prison everyday and dealing with all there is there. Probably not a happy place to work, but work it is and as we heard from everyone, the state provides a good pension. Ernie worked maximum security for several years. Kelly worked directly with sex offenders. Makes you wonder what dinner time conversation was like. Wow. I feel especially grateful for Brookfield as I write this.

Anyway, Kelly’s son in law, Vegas has his own mechanic shop. Fixing cars and trucks in Mt. Pleasant. Three bays and lots of work. Kelly’s daughter, Liz is an ER nurse in Iowa City, just up the road 30 min. She also is in the Air Force reserve. No prison work for these two. John loved having his family here and seemed very thankful that we came. And despite the separation his Dad and our grand dad created amongst the families he started and left, there we all were all these years later, blood relatives, with our Uncle and cousins that we never knew of, connecting and having dinner together. Rose would have liked this very much.