My wife, Pat and I recently took a trip to LA (lower Alabama) with a group of friends from the church where I am presently serving as music director. Our specific destination was Orange Beach, Alabama, residing for five days and nights in one of the Nordic Villas on Romar Beach. There were twenty-three of us staying in one of the huge houses on the beach. It was a beautiful setting overlooking one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The five days were vacation time. It was also a time of cementing friendships as we all met together during the evenings for a prepared meal, a devotional time, a singing time, and a game time. Otherwise, everyone was on their own during the day, which leads me to the reason I’m writing this blog.
We have Kilgore Cousins living on the Alabama Gulf Coast! The cousins living there represent two lines of the Kilgore family—the Dolly Kilgore Gordon/Sherer lineage and the Ruby Kilgore Chadwick lineage. Aunt Dolly’s granddaughter, Judy Cordes Tatum, lives in Orange Beach, and has a small boutique called “Sweet Dreams.” Judy’s mother was Jackie Gordon Gentry. Her shop is located in beautiful SanRoc Cay Marina. Across the courtyard from Judy’s shop is JG Gordon Interiors, a store owned by another one of our cousins, John Grant Gordon.
John Grant is the great- grandson of Aunt Dolly. John Grant’s mother, Miriam, also lives in Orange Beach. If you are ever in the area, I know they would love to see you. The cousin from Aunt Ruby’s part of the Kilgore family, Nelda Chadwick Schultz and her husband Ken, live in Gulf Shores, Ken and Nelda resided in the Dallas, Texas area until his retirement last year. After retirement, they moved back to the place of his roots, Baldwin County, Alabama.
It was arranged by private Facebook message that we cousins get together for breakfast during our visit. After much back and forth messaging, I was not completely clear as to what we were going to do. John Grant had to go to Vegas on Wednesday, Judy had suggested Monday morning. Ken Schultz couldn’t make it on Monday. I suggested Tuesday, but some didn’t see the message in time, and I thought Monday was still on. Nelda also thought Monday was on. When Pat and I got to the Fiddlefish Restaurant at 9:00 am, no one was there. Nelda called that she was running late. When she arrived, no one else had shown up. Nelda called Judy and John Grant and they thought it had been changed to Tuesday. Nelda and I never received that message. Judy came right on after Nelda’s call, and we sat down to order, and talked while we were waiting for our food. John Grant came in about 10 am. Miriam was working, so she did not get to come. It is amazing how things were so mixed up, but was still a good time seeing Nelda, John Grant, and Judy.
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| (from left to right) Nelda Chadwick Shultz, John Grant Gordon, &Judy Cordes Tatum at the FiddleFish Restaurant |
Since Nelda knew that Ken could not make breakfast on Monday, she invited Pat and me for lunch in their home on Wednesday. I rang the doorbell at 11:30 AM, and Ken and Nelda answered with a smile and a hug. Nelda showed us her lovely home. It is so open and airy…. a very comfortable, welcoming home. After the tour, we sat down at the kitchen table as Nelda served us a beautiful plate of chicken salad, pimento cheese sandwiches on pumpernickel bread, fresh mixed fruit, all garnished with mint leaves and a small green onion. As beautiful as the plate of food was, it tasted even better. As we ate, our conversation went back and forth on subjects like retirement, family history, children and future plans. We left the Schultz home about 3:00 PM. Very special time it was!
The remainder of the week proved to be just as delightful as the first part of the week. We left Orange Beach about 8:00 AM on Friday and headed home. It had been a very good week for us. We look forward to being part of this week next September.
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