Hi Abbigail,
Your great uncle Graeme died this month. He was married to my Aunt Jenny, Grandpa Francis's sister living in Clive, in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand. I was very fortunate to be visiting nearby, so Grandpa Francis and I drove down to Taupō, then to Havelock North for Graeme's funeral.
Funerals are sad affairs, but it was wonderful to reconnect with extended family. I learned a lot about Graeme: for example, he was a very good choir singer, and played various musical instruments. Never heard him play or sing a note the whole time I knew him. But there is music and art in that family, no doubt about it.
After the reception, some of us drove back to Aunt Jenny's house in Clive to have quiet family time.
Brother and sister, and children of Graeme: Cousins Richard and Bronwyn. Bron is a high-level Personal Assistant and general Mover & Shaker in Australia. Richie is a singer-songwriter, just back from a decade living in Berlin. Richie and I share the same birthday, although I was born 10 years before him. These two are your first cousins, once removed.
Siblings, from left to right: Great Uncle Tom, Great Aunt Jenny, Grandpa Francis. Jenny is the eldest, followed by Francis, then Tom at a distant third. Tom apparently looks a lot like your Great Great Grandfather ("the General") Robert Young; Jenny and Francis perhaps take more of their looks from your Great Grandma June Young. But the shared family resemblance is there for sure.
From left to right: my Aunt Wendy (Tom's partner), Cousin Jill, and Cousin Eleanor with her partner Peter. These folks are all from Jenny's Young side of the family.
As Graeme's day ended, we were treated to a fabulous sunset on the banks of Lake Taupō, near Acacia Bay.
If you look closely in the dead center of the photo, you'll see the silhouette of a cluster of active volcanoes (from left to right): Mounts Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro. Ngauruhoe is the middle one with the classic cone shape; Tongariro to the right is barely visible.
Love, Dad